In this section

RAMSBURY

Ramsbury is 9 km. east of Marlborough. (fn. 1)
Before the Norman Conquest it was the seat of
bishops whose hundred of Ramsbury was the
second largest non-royal estate in Wiltshire. (fn. 2)
The hundred lay east and west along the Kennet
valley and was attenuated northwards to include
the modern parishes of Baydon on the downs and
Bishopstone in the Cole valley. Both parts of the
hundred were in areas which in 1066 were
remarkable for the many royal, episcopal, and
monastic estates in them. (fn. 3) Before the Conquest
there was at Ramsbury a church of which the
whole episcopal estate and hundred may have
been the parish. (fn. 4) Bishopstone, where there was a
church in the 12th century, was in the 13th
century a distinct parish. (fn. 5) Baydon became a
poor-law parish but its church, standing in the
early 12th century, remained dependent on
Ramsbury church until the 1790s. (fn. 6) This history
of Ramsbury parish therefore embraces Baydon,
but most aspects of the histories of Axford and
Baydon, the largest villages in the parish apart
from Ramsbury, are dealt with separately under
the names of those places.

Ramsbury parish was roughly the shape of a
boot with Axford in the toe, Littlecote in the heel,
and Baydon in the leg. It measured 8 km. from
toe to heel, 12 km. from top to heel; and it
contained 12,358 a. (5,002 ha.) which was reduced to 9,873 a. (3,996 ha.) when Baydon was
excluded. The parish has otherwise remained
unaltered. The whole, including Baydon, is in
the Kennet valley and on chalk. (fn. 7) The Kennet
flows from west to east across its southern part
without a southern tributary valley. North of the
river the steep sides of the valley have been
broken into many ridges and valleys now dry, and
a tributary still flows from Aldbourne through
Preston and Whittonditch. Only Hens Wood in
the south-west corner of the parish and the
northern slopes of Bailey Hill at the north end
drain to the Kennet through tributaries in other
parishes. The unbroken southern side of the
valley, called Spring Hill near Ramsbury, rises
sharply from 122 m. to 168 m.: above it the
highest points on an almost flat summit are above
183 m. South-west of Spring Hill part of the
down was called Ramsbury Plain in 1820. (fn. 8) The
broken and complex relief of the parish north of
the Kennet is typical of the Wiltshire downs.
From its highest points, over 229 m. at Baydon,
the land slopes south-eastwards, the heights of
the ridges, 216 m. at Marridge Hill, over 198 m.
along the boundary with the southern part of
Aldbourne, and over 183 m. at Eastridge, decreasing nearer to Littlecote, which lies near the
river at 107 m. The parish boundary followed a
Roman road north-west of Baydon, the tributary
between Preston and Aldbourne, and dry valleys
between Aldbourne and Baydon, near Axford,
and near Rudge in Froxfield, but for most of its
length was neither straight nor responsive to
relief. The boundaries with Aldbourne in Love's
Copse and with Aldbourne, Little Hinton, and
Bishopstone on the remote downs north-west of
Baydon were first marked in 1778. (fn. 9)

Deposits of clay-with-flints, valley gravel, and
alluvium overlie the chalk, follow the contours,
and are very extensive for a Wiltshire parish.
There is clay-with-flints on all the ridges, gravel
in all the valleys. Most of the down south of the
Kennet is covered by clay-with-flints and a broad
tongue covers the ridge from Marridge Hill
through Baydon to Bailey Hill. The high ground
on the boundaries with Lambourn (Berks.) and
Chilton Foliat between Membury fort and Foxbury Wood and the ridges between Burney Farm
and Crowood House are similarly covered. The
strip of alluvium deposited by the Kennet is
200–400 m. wide in the parish. Except near
Ramsbury Manor there is a narrow strip of valley
gravel south of it. North of it the band of gravel is
wider, and near Ramsbury, Whittonditch, and
Knighton there are extensive gravel deposits.
The gravel extends in long tongues between
Whittonditch and Preston and in the dry valleys
between Marridge Hill and Membury and north
of Axford, Preston, and Bailey Hill. (fn. 10) Leland aptly
described the parish as fruitful of wood and
corn, (fn. 11) and the normal sheep-and-corn husbandry of the Wiltshire chalklands has predominated in the usual pattern of meadows on
the alluvium, arable on the gravel and chalk,
and permanent pasture on the steepest slopes
of the chalk. The highest land, covered by claywith-flints, has been wooded, arable, and
pasture. (fn. 12)

In 1086 woodland at Ramsbury, 16 furlongs
long and 4 broad, was possibly in that part of the
parish south of the Kennet in which the lords of
Ramsbury and Littlecote manors later had woodland in their parks and which was in Savernake
forest in the Middle Ages. (fn. 13) That area was well
wooded with little agriculture in the 16th
century. (fn. 14) On the downs north of the Kennet
there was by then tillage on most of the chalk and
clay-with-flints, but large islands of woodland
remained. (fn. 15) A north wood of Axford and 46 a. of
coppice on Axford copyholds may have been
north of the village. (fn. 16) A wood called Shortgrove
south of Baydon, 86 a. in 1567, was mentioned
from c. 1260. (fn. 17) There were woods at Membury,
Eastridge, Whittonditch, and Marridge Hill, the
largest of which was Witcha Wood, later
Marridge Hill Wood, over 90 a. (fn. 18) In the late 16th
century there may have been over 1,000 a. of
woodland in the parish, perhaps equally divided
between the downs north and south of the
Kennet. (fn. 19) In the north part of the parish Shortgrove was the only woodland known to have been
cleared for agriculture, possibly in the later 17th
century. (fn. 20) In the south part the lords of Axford,
Ramsbury, and Littlecote manors have preserved
the largest woods, Hens Wood, 333 a., Blake's
Copse and adjoining woods, c. 125 a., Park
Coppice and Lawn Coppice, a total of 190 a., and
Foxbury Wood, Oaken Coppice, and neighbouring woods, a total of 150 a. (fn. 21) The Plantation south
of Ramsbury Manor and Staghorn Copse and
Bolstridge Copse respectively south and east of
Hilldrop were grown between 1773 and 1828. (fn. 22)
All those woods remained in 1981 when more
than 1,000 a. were wooded.

The north part of the parish is crossed by
ancient and modern downland roads. The
Roman road, Ermin Street, from Speen (Berks.)
to Gloucester follows the Ridge Way between the
Kennet and its tributary, the Lambourn. (fn. 23) The
London and south Wales motorway, opened
across the parish in 1971, (fn. 24) follows a parallel
course. The other main roads have followed the
valleys and are presumably as old as the settlements in them. That linking the villages beside
the Kennet between Hungerford and Marlborough may long have rivalled the LondonBath road over the downs between those places. (fn. 25)
Between Ramsbury and Axford the road presumably followed the river, as it did elsewhere,
with Ramsbury Manor and Axford Farm near its
course. East of Ramsbury Manor a road diverged
from it and led through Sound Bottom across the
downs to Ogbourne St. Andrew. That road may
have been diverted northwards when the north
park of Ramsbury manor was enlarged in the
15th century, and the riverside road between
Ramsbury and Axford was stopped, possibly at
the same time. In the late 17th century and early
18th, when it was called the Marlborough road
and the London road, the road through Sound
Bottom may have been the main HungerfordMarlborough road through Ramsbury. (fn. 26) Its
course round the park was diverted eastwards
and northwards when the park was further
enlarged c. 1775. Afterwards the circuitous route
between Ramsbury and Axford was made easier
by a cutting at White's Hill and shorter by a new
north-south road north-west of Axford Farm, (fn. 27)
and the road through Axford became the
main Ramsbury-Marlborough route. The road
through Sound Bottom has never been made up.
The road which diverges from the HungerfordRamsbury road at Knighton, and which links
Aldbourne and Hungerford, was turnpiked from
Knighton across the downs to Liddington in
1814, (fn. 28) was moved westwards to a new course
between Knighton and Whittonditch in the mid
19th century, (fn. 29) and in the 20th century has
developed into a main road serving Swindon.
South of the Kennet the steepness of the valley
side and imparking have restricted southward
egress from the parish to a single steep lane.
North of the Kennet, however, the more broken
relief allows many lanes to link the settlements.

There are barrows and ditches near Whittonditch, Marridge Hill, and Membury and a field
system on the downs north of Axford, but
archaeological discoveries and earthworks
indicate no concentration of prehistoric settlement or activity in what became Ramsbury
parish. (fn. 30) Membury fort on the downs, partly in
Lambourn, was strongly fortified in the Iron
Age, (fn. 31) and near Botley Copse in Ashbury
(Berks., later Oxon.) there was a Roman settlement, partly in Baydon, near which RomanoBritish artefacts have been found in a field system
north of Bailey Hill. (fn. 32) An apparently luxurious
Roman villa stood near the Kennet between
Knighton and Littlecote: its site was discovered
c. 1728, afterwards obscured, rediscovered in
1977, and since excavated. (fn. 33)

Ramsbury c.1828

Two downland settlements in the north part of
the parish possibly preceded the many Saxon
settlements of its valleys. Its site on a Roman road
and, unusual for a Wiltshire village, on a ridge
covered by clay-with-flints supports the suggestion that Baydon has survived as a settlement
from Roman times; (fn. 34) Membury's site near an
Iron-Age fort and the British element in its name
suggest pre-Saxon settlement. (fn. 35) Later settlement
near the Kennet was on the extensive gravel
deposits north of the river where a line of seven
settlements at intervals of 1 km. was strung
across the parish. Ramsbury seems likely to have
been the largest of them in the 11th century when
its name was that of a 90-hide estate, (fn. 36) and has
remained so; Axford, the westernmost, may for
long have rivalled Baydon as the second largest
village of the parish; (fn. 37) and between Ramsbury
and Axford were the hamlet called Park Town, a
palace of the bishop of Salisbury, afterwards
Ramsbury Manor, and the farmstead and manor
house of Axford manor. East of Ramsbury,
Knighton and Thrup were hamlets whose names
suggest Saxon origins. (fn. 38) Thrup was called East
Thrup to distinguish it from Hilldrop or West
Thrup in the Middle Ages when it presumably
stood beside the Kennet near the boundary with
Chilton Foliat. (fn. 39) Also near the boundary with
Chilton Foliat the manor house and farmstead of
Littlecote were built south of the river. A further
four settlements, Whittonditch, Upper Whittonditch, (fn. 40) near which Crowood House stands,
Preston, and Ford, grew at intervals of 1 km. in
the tributary valley between Knighton and
Aldbourne, apparently decreasing in size up the
valley. Other small valley settlements developed
in the 19th century near Witcha Farm north-east
of Whittonditch, as a hamlet called Burney or
Upper Axford around Burney Farm north of
Axford, (fn. 41) and at Gore Lane north of Bailey
Hill. The only downland settlement likely
to be of Saxon origin is Hilldrop whose name
suggests it. (fn. 42) There were hamlets on the downs at
both Marridge Hill and Eastridge, apparently in
the 16th century when farms were based there, (fn. 43)
and presumably much earlier. Elsewhere on the
downs farmsteads including, north of the Kennet,
Bailey Hill Farm, Thrup Farm, and House Farm
near Axford, and, south of the Kennet, Park
Farm, Darrell's Farm on the border with Froxfield, Elmdown Farm, and Littlecote Park Farm,
were built in different periods, apparently
following inclosure, changes in land use, or the
adoption of new methods of farming.

So large a parish containing so many settlements was, as might be expected, populous and
wealthy, notably so beside the Kennet, but in the
early 14th century perhaps not remarkably so for
its size. There were 413 or 431 poll-tax payers in
1377. (fn. 44) In 1773 there was a total of 456 men living
in five of the six tithings: (fn. 45) those in the sixth and
least populous, Park Town, may have been
counted with the men of Ramsbury. Almost
certainly more than 300 men were living in the
settlements beside the Kennet. (fn. 46) In 1801 the
populations of Ramsbury and Baydon parishes
totalled 2,253 of whom 1,963 lived in Ramsbury
parish. (fn. 47) The population of Ramsbury parish had
risen to a peak of 2,696 by 1851. It had fallen to
2,164 by 1891 and, with only slight fluctuations,
to 1,504 by 1921 and 1,390 by 1971. (fn. 48) In 1981 its
concentration in Ramsbury village was clearly
even greater than it had been in 1773. (fn. 49)

Although Ramsbury developed on the gravel
near the Kennet, apart from mills at its east and
west ends there has been no building beside the
river. A leat carrying water to the meadows
between the mills has long been a clear southern
boundary. (fn. 50) High Street, in which a Saxon iron
foundry has been discovered, (fn. 51) and the church
presumably mark the site of earliest settlement.
If the bishops of Ramsbury had a house near their
cathedral in the 11th century it may have been in
the village rather than on the site 2 km. east on
which the bishops of Salisbury had a palace. The
medieval street names Castle Wall, (fn. 52) afterwards
Whitehouse Lane and Burdett Street, (fn. 53) and Old
Garden, later Old Orchard and Free Orchard, (fn. 54)
and the shape of the village, in which the church
and vicarage house are within an ellipse, formed
by High Street and Back Lane and crossed by
Burdett Street, and most settlement is on the
periphery, may be evidence of such a house. The
names and the shape, however, could be attributed to factors other than the existence of a large
house. The straightness of the middle part of
High Street, the long narrow plots on its south
side, (fn. 55) and several 15th-century references to
burgages (fn. 56) may be evidence of a planned expansion of the village. It is more likely, however, that
it grew naturally east and west from its origin
near the church along a street which followed the
line of the river and may have been a market
street from the early 13th century or before. (fn. 57)
Ramsbury had grown eastwards from High Street
by the early 14th century when Oxford Street, its
north-east continuation, was so called. (fn. 58) Oxford
Street had been built up by the mid 15th century.
Burgages and shops then gave Ramsbury characteristics of a small town. (fn. 59) Its urban appearance
may have been enhanced by the fact that, possibly
because there was little agriculture south of the
Kennet, and because settlement was dispersed
north of it, there have been few farmsteads in it. (fn. 60)
The junction of High Street and Oxford Street
and Back Lane and Scholard's Lane formed a
small square. (fn. 61)

The village continued to grow eastwards.
Tankard Lane and Blind Lane, later Union
Street, had been built up by the 18th century. (fn. 62)
In 1778 there were several buildings beside and
south of Scholard's Lane and in Crowood Lane.
There were also houses east of the village at
Newtown, so called in 1781. (fn. 63) In the later 19th
century Crowood Lane, then called Andrews
Lane, and Union Street still clearly marked the
eastern edge of the village, (fn. 64) but in the 20th
century 27 pairs of council houses and other
houses and bungalows in Whittonditch Road,
and 83 private houses in Ashley Piece and the
Paddocks north and south of Whittonditch Road,
have been built further east. North of Oxford
Street council houses in Chapel Lane and private
houses in Swan's Bottom, and north of Back
Lane private houses in Orchard Close, are also
20th-century.

In contrast with its eastern end, the village's
west end has not grown beyond High Street,
possibly because the owners of Ramsbury Manor
and park, the palings of which may have reached
the village in the Middle Ages, (fn. 65) encouraged
growth eastwards. There were houses in Mill
Lane and at the west end of Back Lane in the 17th
century, and in the 18th century Bodorgan
House, afterwards Ramsbury Hill, and cottages
north of the church stood on the south side of
Back Lane near the house later called Parliament
Piece. (fn. 66) North of Back Lane at its west end
estates of some 70 council dwellings in Knowledge Crescent and Hilldrop Close have been
built in the 20th century.

Street names in Ramsbury which have survived from the Middle Ages are High Street,
Oxford Street, and Crows, later Crowood, Lane.
Those lost include Castle Street, Free Orchard,
Nolbit Street, and Cock's Lane. (fn. 67) Back Lane was
first so called in 1663, Tankard Lane in 1677, (fn. 68)
Mill Lane in 1724, (fn. 69) and Blind Lane in 1762. (fn. 70)

There were presumably coaching inns in Ramsbury in the 17th century. (fn. 71) By the mid 18th
century the Bell and the Bleeding Horse had been
established at the east and west junctions of High
Street and Back Lane. (fn. 72) The Angel, in High
Street, the Castle, later the Windsor Castle, in
the Square, and the Swan were also inns in the
18th century. (fn. 73) The Burdett Arms and the Malt
Shovel, both in High Street, were so called in the
early 19th century: (fn. 74) the Crown, at the junction
of Crowood Lane and Whittonditch Road, was
so called in 1878, the Crown and Anchor
afterwards. (fn. 75) Of those inns only the Angel and
the Swan, which may have been succeeded by
the Burdett Arms and the Malt Shovel, were not
among the seven open in 1880, the eight in
1939. (fn. 76) The Halfway at the junction of Halfway
Lane and Whittonditch Road and the Boot in
Scholard's Lane had been opened respectively by
1839 and 1892. (fn. 77) The Burdett Arms, the Malt
Shovel, the Bell, and the Crown and Anchor were
open in 1981.

West of Ramsbury the bishops of Salisbury
had in the 13th century or earlier a park and a
palace (fn. 78) and there was a hamlet or village called
Park Town. The bishop presumably had staff
permanently resident in the palace. Some
bishops possibly used the palace more than
others but there is no evidence of neglect, and in
the later 15th century and the earlier 16th the
bishops spent much time there. (fn. 79) The household
numbered over 100, including 12 grooms and 27
servants, c. 1523, (fn. 80) presumably as many as 300
including wives and children. Later owners of
Ramsbury Manor may have had smaller households, but the successive houses on the site of the
bishop's palace remained appreciable centres of
population until the 19th century: there were 29
occupants in 1851. (fn. 81) Park Town, mentioned as a
hamlet or village in the 1290s, (fn. 82) was beside the
Kennet. In the Middle Ages and the 16th century
a mill in the park, farmsteads, and cottages were
said to stand at Park Town. One of the buildings,
which were possibly neither numerous nor
closely grouped, was near the eastern outer gate
of the manor house. (fn. 83) Later the name Park Town
was apparently applied to the hamlet consisting
of Hales Court Farm and of those buildings in the
park which in 1676 stood some 300 m. east of
Ramsbury manor house near the junction of the
drive of the house and the road round the park.
Hales Court Farm was beside the Kennet and
apparently outside the eastern boundary of the
park. (fn. 84) In 1773 only Hales Court Farm, possibly a
mill near it, and the mill in the park were
standing. Buildings then north-east of Ramsbury
Manor may have included a farmstead or the
house called the Lodge in 1681. (fn. 85) About 1775 the
mill or mills and Hales Court Farm were demolished when an ornamental lake was formed
with water from the Kennet, and the farmstead or
the Lodge was apparently demolished when the
park was extended eastwards and northwards. A
new farmstead incorporating Manor Farm, a
house with an octagonal centre and short wings,
was built beside the new road round the park. (fn. 86)
A farmstead called Park Town Farm, later
Harbrook Farm, has stood on the south bank of
the Kennet between Ramsbury Manor and
Ramsbury since the later 17th century. West of it
three pairs of houses called New Cottages were
built between 1958 and 1964 for employees of the
owner of Ramsbury Manor. (fn. 87) South-west of them
Manor Cottage is a small house of flint and thatch
possibly built in the late 18th century. East of
Harbrook Farm are two thatched cottages of the
late 18th and early 19th centuries.

South of the Kennet in Ramsbury and Park
Town tithings, Ambrose Farm, an early 19thcentury farmhouse, is on the site of a farmstead
which seems to have originated in the Middle
Ages. (fn. 88) Several cottages west of it at Lamplands
were built in the mid 19th century. (fn. 89) On the
downs Elmdown Farm may have been the only
farmstead in the 16th century. (fn. 90) A farmstead, later
called Park Farm, had been established in the
parkland by the late 17th century. (fn. 91) In the
Second World War the flat land between those
two downland farmsteads was used as an airfield,
before 1943 as a satellite station of R.A.F.
Andover (Hants) and from 1943 by No. 11 Troop
Carrier Command of the United States Air
Force. Hangars and a camp were built at its
south-east corner and east of the RamsburyFroxfield lane and in Froxfield. After the war the
airfield was used for short periods by Transport
Command and Fighter Command of the R.A.F.,
became a sub-station of R.A.F. Yatesbury, and
was disposed of by the state in 1955. In 1981
most of the runways survived but by then most of
the buildings had been removed. (fn. 92) Bridge Farm,
incorporating some of the buildings, and
Darrell's Farm, partly in Froxfield, have been
built near what was the south-east perimeter of
the airfield.

In 1773 there were 246 men living in Ramsbury and, apparently, Park Town. (fn. 93) There was a
population of 1,759 in 1841. (fn. 94)

Red brick was used in three of the largest
houses to survive in the parish, Littlecote House,
Ramsbury Manor, and Parliament Piece, as
facing or as the main walling, in the later 16th
century and the 17th: (fn. 95) in the 18th century red
brick superseded timber framing in nearly all
new building. Red brick has remained the predominant building material, but in the smaller
houses was often used in bands or as dressings
with flints. Timber-framed and thatched cottages
of the 17th century survive at the west ends of
High Street and Back Lane, in Burdett Street,
and in Oxford Street, and there are a few houses
with apparently 17th-century origins, some
timber-framed, in Mill Lane, Scholard's Lane,
Newtown Road, and Whittonditch Road. The
Bleeding Horse, which has east and west extensions, may also be 17th-century. It is not
clear where a serious fire in 1648 was most
destructive. (fn. 96)

The main block of Ramsbury Hill in Back
Lane was built in the early 18th century, possibly
incorporating part of an older building in its
north-east corner, and a new south-east block
was added in the 19th century: an early 18thcentury staircase and fittings and decorations
resulting from early 19th-century alterations
remain in the house. The Cedars in Scholard's
Lane was built in the 18th century and enlarged
in the 19th, and Kennet House on the south side
of High Street is an 18th-century house refronted
c. 1830. Apart from those houses and the Old
Mill the largest houses in Ramsbury were built
in the earlier 20th century, particularly north
of Newtown Road and south of Whittonditch
Road.

Most 18th-century buildings to survive are
houses and cottages of red brick, with which blue
brick and flint were often used, in High Street.
Thatched cottages of that period, of brick, sometimes perhaps encasing timber frames, and flint,
are in Oxford Street and Union Street at its
junction with the Knapp and Newtown Road.
There is an 18th-century house with later additions in Chapel Lane, and an 18th-century house
and Knapp House, built c. 1800, stand in the
Knapp. Fire is said to have destroyed 40 dwellings in 1781. Several cottages north of the church
in Back Lane were among them and were not
replaced. (fn. 97) Few new sites were used for building
in the 19th century and most of the many 19thcentury cottages and small houses in the village
are replacements of earlier buildings, especially
in High Street, the Square, and Oxford Street,
some perhaps successors to houses or cottages
burnt in 1781. (fn. 98) The Malt Shovel and the Bell are
18th-century, the Burdett Arms and the Crown
and Anchor are 19th-century: all except the Malt
Shovel have been much altered in the 20th
century. A gabled house of c. 1900 stands in the
Square and an earlier 19th-century flint cottage
with brick dressings in Tudor style in Crowood
Lane. While the village expanded eastwards and
northwards in the 20th century there has also
been new building in the older parts. In High
Street 29 council houses and old people's homes
were built in 1952 and the 1970s, and 20thcentury houses and bungalows have replaced
earlier buildings and are on new sites in Back
Lane, Tankard Lane, Crowood Lane, and
elsewhere.

Ramsbury Building Society was started as the
Provident Union Building & Investment Society
in 1846. It took its present name in 1928. In 1976
it had assets of £50 million and fifteen branch
offices in Wiltshire, Berkshire, Dorset, and
Hampshire, in 1981 assets of over £100 million
and 26 branch offices. (fn. 99) Its headquarters were
moved to Marlborough in 1982. (fn. 100) Until then they
had been in Ramsbury in houses on the south side
of the Square. The 'great tree' at Ramsbury
growing in 1751 is presumably the wych-elm in
the Square in 1981 (fn. 101) which the society adopted as
a symbol at its incorporation in 1893. (fn. 102)

None of the settlements beside the Kennet east
of Ramsbury has been large. At Knighton, where
the river was crossed by Deep bridge in the
Middle Ages, (fn. 103) there may then have been several
small farmsteads, but from the 16th century
apparently only Knighton Farm. (fn. 104) The farmhouse was replaced in the mid 19th century and
west of the new house a pair of cottages was built.
There were extensive farm buildings there in the
late 19th century: (fn. 105) none older than the 19th
century, they survived, but not in use, in 1981.
South of the Kennet, Littlecote House and the
buildings associated with it, some in Chilton
Foliat, have long been the only dwellings. There
were 20 in the household of Littlecote House in
1523: (fn. 106) the house remained a small centre of
employment in the later 20th century when it was
open to the public. South of it Littlecote Park
Farm, of banded flint and brick, replaced a
farmstead nearer the house between 1839 and
1878. (fn. 107) Nothing remains to mark the medieval
site of the manor house and hamlet of Thrup
which may have been near the river and the
boundary with Chilton Foliat. (fn. 108) Thrup Farm
had been built on the downs possibly by 1712,
certainly by 1773: (fn. 109) in 1981 the only one of its
buildings to remain was a derelict 19th-century
barn.

Whittonditch was clearly not a large village in
the Middle Ages. (fn. 110) It was apparently a village of
medium sized farmsteads in the 16th century, (fn. 111)
and may not have been closely grouped. Its
nucleus was beside the stream at the junction
of Whittonditch Road and the KnightonAldbourne road, (fn. 112) where a pair of 18th-century
thatched cottages are the oldest buildings to
survive. Nearby is a 19th-century thatched house
and farm buildings and other houses of the 19th
and 20th centuries. In the late 18th century
Whittonditch House was built north of the
junction. Upper Whittonditch, formerly
Minden, Farm is north-east of the junction,
beside the Whittonditch-Membury lane. Witcha
Farm, further north, is an 18th-century farmhouse with modern farm buildings and an older
timber-framed granary. Near it in the later 19th
century were several cottages and a nonconformist chapel which survive. (fn. 113) Farm buildings, a
house, and a bungalow were built west of the
Whittonditch-Membury lane in the mid 20th
century. In the late 18th century a hamlet called
Upper Whittonditch was east of Crowood
House, (fn. 114) the name of which may echo Ramsbury
(possibly Raven's burg). (fn. 115) The hamlet was no
more than a farmstead in the early 19th century.
The 19th-century farmhouse had become the
Fox and Hounds inn by the late 19th century.
The farm buildings have been replaced in the
20th century and the farmhouse has been altered
to become two cottages. Farm buildings stood
further north in the early 19th century: near them
Crowood Farm was built in the mid 19th century
and extended in the 20th century. (fn. 116) A second
farmhouse was built in the mid 20th century.
Most of the farm buildings are also 20th-century.
Preston in 1377 may have had eighteen poll-tax
payers: it was clearly a hamlet of small farmsteads
in the Middle Ages and was possibly so in the
16th century. (fn. 117) It remained a hamlet, partly in
Aldbourne, in the 20th century. In 1981 Preston
Farm and a pair of 18th-century cottages of
brick, flint, and thatch and a similar barn were the
only buildings there in Ramsbury parish. No
more than eighteen men lived in Whittonditch
tithing, at Whittonditch, Upper Whittonditch,
and Preston, in 1773. (fn. 118) In 1841 there were 135
inhabitants. (fn. 119)

The hamlet near Eastridge Farm was called
Eastridge in 1773: (fn. 120) extensive 19th- and 20thcentury farm buildings, a pair of 19th-century
cottages, and a pair of 20th-century cottages were
there in 1981. Eastridge House was built west of
it. In the Middle Ages a castle and a manor house,
remains of which have been excavated, stood at
Membury south of Membury fort. (fn. 121) Their site
may have been deserted in the late 13th century. (fn. 122)
There was a chapel, (fn. 123) and possibly a hamlet, (fn. 124) at
Membury in the Middle Ages. From the 16th
century or earlier there was almost certainly no
more than a single farmstead, (fn. 125) presumably near
the site of the present manor house. In 1773 there
were several buildings at Membury south of the
road leading north-east from Witcha Farm. (fn. 126) In
the 19th century one was the Bottle and Glass
inn: (fn. 127) none survives. Nine Oaks Farm west of
Membury had been built by 1830: (fn. 128) a barn
remains on the site. Farmsteads said to be at
Marridge in the 15th and 16th centuries may
have been at Marridge Hill, which has been so
named from the 17th century or earlier and was
a hamlet in 1773. (fn. 129) Baydon Manor, formerly
Marridge Hill House, was built there, and all the
buildings standing in 1773 have been replaced. A
pair of estate cottages in Tudor style was built in
the early 20th century. A second pair of cottages,
a bungalow, and extensive farm buildings on
both sides of the Marridge Hill to Baydon lane
have since been built, and a small 19th-century
house, possibly converted from farm buildings,
survives. South of Marridge Hill an earlier
Marridge Hill House was built, and north-west
and south-east of it there were farmsteads in 1773
and 1839. (fn. 130) The north-western farmstead was
replaced by Marridge Hill Farm, a small 19thcentury house with 20th-century farm buildings,
near which is another 19th-century house.
Nothing remains of the south-eastern farmstead,
but east of its site Balak Farm is a late 19thcentury cottage with 20th-century extensions. In
Eastridge tithing, which included Membury,
Knighton, Littlecote, and possibly Marridge
Hill there were 49 men in 1773: the population
was 173 in 1841. (fn. 131)

In the late 13th century Hilldrop, sometimes
West Thrup, was described as a hamlet. (fn. 132) There
is no evidence that it ever comprised more than a
manor house, in which there was a household of
fourteen in 1523, (fn. 133) and a farmstead. The manor
house may not have survived the 17th century. It
was replaced much later by Hilldrop Farm, west
of which is a small house partly of the 17th
century and south of which are extensive 19thand 20th-century farm buildings. Love's Farm
north-east of Hilldrop is possibly on the site of a
farmstead so called from the 13th century. (fn. 134)
Bolstridge Farm stood east of Hilldrop in the
19th century. (fn. 135) North of Hilldrop, Pentico Farm,
near the boundary with Aldbourne, and buildings called Staples and Lattimore were standing
in 1773. (fn. 136) Pentico Farm was demolished in the
mid 20th century. (fn. 137) Of the others none in
Ramsbury was standing in 1981.

Manors and Other Estates.

It is very
likely that Ramsbury belonged to the bishops of
Ramsbury in the 10th and 11th centuries, and
that their successors kept it after the see was
moved to Salisbury between 1075 and 1078. (fn. 138)
The bishop of Salisbury held Ramsbury in 1086,
when five burgesses of Cricklade were attached to
it, (fn. 139) and the manor of RAMSBURY passed with
the see. The manor and parish were conterminous.
Several freeholds, possibly originating in the
total of 22 hides held by Otbold, Herbert, and
Quintin in 1086, became or were reputed
manors, but the bishops kept demesne and
customary lands in all parts of the parish. (fn. 140) Their
lands in Baydon and Axford were frequently
named in the title of the manor, as if there was a
single manor called Ramsbury, Baydon, and
Axford, but were sometimes referred to as if
there were three separate manors. (fn. 141) In 1545,
under an Act of exchange, Bishop Salcot granted
the manor to Edward Seymour, earl of Hertford,
protector of the realm 1547–9, and from 1547
duke of Somerset. (fn. 142) After Seymour's execution
and attainder in 1552 it was granted to William
Herbert, earl of Pembroke. (fn. 143) It passed with the
earldom of Pembroke to Philip, earl of Pembroke
and Montgomery, who in 1676–7 sold it to the
lawyer and politician Henry Powle. (fn. 144) Powle, who
borrowed the money to buy it on the security of
his manors of Williamstrip, in Coln St. Aldwyns,
and Quenington (both Glos.), was apparently
speculating. Named in the conveyances with the
lenders' trustees, between 1677 and 1681 he sold
nearly all the leaseholds and most of the copyholds, in most cases to the tenants, and in 1681
sold those remaining and the manor house and
the parks and woods around it to Sir William
Jones (d. 1682), attorney-general 1675–9. (fn. 145) Jones
was succeeded by his son Richard (d.s.p. a minor
in 1685) and by his brother Samuel (d. 1686)
whose heir was his son Richard. (fn. 146) In 1736
Richard was succeeded by his brother William
(d. 1753) whose heir was his son William (of age
in 1764, d. 1766). (fn. 147) That William was succeeded
by his sister Elizabeth, wife of William Langham
(d. 1791) who assumed the additional name
Jones and in 1774 was created a baronet. (fn. 148) After
Lady Jones's death in 1800 (fn. 149) Ramsbury manor
passed to her nephew Sir Francis Burdett, Bt. (d.
1844), and afterwards to Sir Francis's son Sir
Robert. In 1880 Sir Robert was succeeded by his
cousin Sir Francis Burdett, Bt. (d. 1892), whose
heir was his son Sir Francis. (fn. 150) In the 18th, 19th,
and 20th centuries the Joneses and Burdetts
recovered by purchase some of the lands sold
1677–81, especially of those at Axford and Ramsbury. (fn. 151) In 1880 Ramsbury manor was a compact
estate of c. 4,000 a. encompassing nearly all the
west part of the parish and including little land in
the east and north. (fn. 152) From between 1939 and
1943 until after 1945 c. 400 a. south and southwest of Spring Hill were held by the state for
Ramsbury airfield, (fn. 153) and in 1944 Hens Wood,
333 a., was leased to the Forestry Commission for
999 years. (fn. 154) After the death in 1951 of Sir Francis
Burdett (fn. 155) the airfield land, Park farm, nearly all
of Park Town farm, (fn. 156) and Ramsbury Manor and
c. 350 a. around it were bought by Seymour
William Arthur John Egerton, earl of Wilton. In
1958 Lord Wilton sold the manor house and its
surrounding land to Sir William Rootes (Baron
Rootes from 1959, d. 1964): (fn. 157) they were sold in
1964–5 to Mr. H. J. Hyams, the owner in 1981. (fn. 158)
Hilldrop farm, which had belonged to Sir
Francis Burdett (d. 1951), was sold in 1957. (fn. 159)
The remainder of Burdett's estate passed to his
stepdaughter Marjorie Frances, wife of Sir Bertie
Drew Fisher (Burdett-Fisher from 1952, d.
1972), who with her son Maj. F. R. D. BurdettFisher owned c. 2,200 a. in the west part of the
parish, mainly at Axford, in 1981. (fn. 160)

Ramsbury throughout the Middle Ages was
one of the bishop of Salisbury's principal and,
especially in the later 15th century and the early
16th, most often lived in palaces. (fn. 161) The house
stood beside the Kennet in a park which has been
extended more than once. (fn. 162) The bishops had at
the house a chapel dedicated to the Virgin and a
cloister was mentioned in 1320. (fn. 163) Licences were
granted to crenellate in 1337 and to wall and
crenellate in 1377. (fn. 164) Leland described the house
c. 1540 as 'fair' and 'old'. (fn. 165) Between 1552 and
1567 William, earl of Pembroke, spent over
£2,000 on building work at the site. His house
had a main symmetrical east front of two storeys
with attics and nine gables. In 1676 it was at the
centre of a series of enclosures bounded by high
walls and covering 6 a.: it was approached from
the north-east along a formal avenue. The plan of
the house was nearly a square of 60 m., but it
included three irregularly placed internal courts
possibly vestiges of the bishops' palace, parts of
which may have been incorporated in the house.
There was a cupola over or behind the central
gable in 1676. (fn. 166) In the 16th century the earls may
have used the house as much as they used Wilton,
but as Wilton's importance grew in the 17th
century Ramsbury's declined. (fn. 167) In 1644 the
house was said to be a 'fair square stone house . . .
though not comparable to Wilton'. It was sometimes lived in by Mary, dowager countess of
Pembroke (d. 1650), and Anne, Baroness
Clifford, wife of Philip, earl of Pembroke and
Montgomery (d. 1650). (fn. 168) It was leased to Charles
Dormer, earl of Carnarvon (d. 1709), the grandson of Philip, earl of Pembroke and Montgomery
(d. 1650), and afterwards to John Seymour, duke
of Somerset (d. 1675). (fn. 169) A new house, Ramsbury
Manor, was begun for Sir William Jones c. 1681
on the site of the old. (fn. 170)

Ramsbury Manor is of brick with dressings of
stone and decoration of carved and painted wood.
It has a symmetrical double-pile plan, nine bays
by six, and two storeys with attics and basements.
The architect was almost certainly Robert
Hooke. (fn. 171) If, as is likely, building began in 1681, it
may not have been far advanced when Jones died
in 1682. Jones directed his executors to complete
the house: (fn. 172) rainwater heads bear the date 1683
and there are many fittings of the 1680s inside
the house. Some of the rooms were then finished
to a high standard, but it is doubtful whether
all were. The rooms which retain their 17thcentury panelling include the entrance hall, in the
middle of the east side, the dining room, and the
saloon, which is panelled with oak and has carved
mouldings, an enriched overmantel attributed to
Grinling Gibbons, (fn. 173) and painted panels above
the doorways. The secondary staircase is in the
middle of the south side and runs from basement
to attics. The principal staircase, in the middle of
the north side, served only the two main floors
and has not survived. No 17th-century ceiling
remains in the house. The basement, which at its
south end is at ground level, has a brick-vaulted
room below the hall. There and in the central
corridor of the basement are stone architraves
which, like the early 17th-century panelling
reset at the bottom of the south staircase, seem
to have been re-used from the earlier building.
The first floor is planned as six bedrooms with
closets accessible from the stairs or the central
corridor, which is lit by a lantern passing through
the attic floor.

Ramsbury: the east front of the earl of Pembroke's house, c. 1567

The fitting or refitting of the inside of the
house continued throughout the 18th century.
Between 1766 and 1791 Sir William Langham
Jones repaired and improved it and landscaped
the grounds around it. (fn. 174) Most woodwork in the
attics is of the early and mid 18th century and
several bedrooms have mid and late 18th-century
cornices, fireplaces, and panelling. On the
principal floor the library was redecorated in
the late 18th century and new fireplaces were
installed in all the other rooms except the hall.
The north-west room and its closet on that floor
and one or more bedroom were then decorated
with Chinese wallpaper. The last major alteration inside the house was c. 1800 when a new
principal staircase was built. The Joneses lived in
the house, but the Burdetts did not often live
there until 1914 and in the 19th and 20th
centuries only minor additions were made. (fn. 175) It
has been extensively restored by its present
owner.

North-east of the house stables were built in
the mid 17th century. (fn. 176) By analogy with stables at
Wilton House their design has been attributed to
Isaac de Caux. (fn. 177) They have a south front with a
central pedimented entrance bay, on each side of
which are four bays: all the windows are vertical
ovals each with a keystone at top and bottom.
The building now houses a swimming pool and
domestic accommodation. North of it a stable
court was built in the late 18th century or early
19th. The late 17th-century walled kitchen
garden is 350 m. west of the house and is now a
rose garden. It was extended westwards in the
19th century for an orchard. Beside the house,
but at a lower level south of it, a court of cottages
for servants was built in the mid 18th century.
Alterations were made to the park c. 1775. (fn. 178)
The artificial lake was made with an ornamental
bridge at its east end, and in 1775 a conservatory
was built to adjoin the servants' court to the
south. (fn. 179) The park was extended northwards and
eastwards: the drive was lengthened and at the
east end a new pair of lodges was built with late
17th-century gatepiers presumably reset from
an earlier forecourt. A belt of trees was planted
round the new boundary of the park and the
Plantation south of the house may have been
planted then. (fn. 180) Near the kitchen garden a rustic
fishing lodge was built in the late 18th century or
early 19th.

The tithes of Ramsbury parish belonged to the
chapter of Salisbury cathedral until in the mid
12th century or earlier they were given to endow
the prebend of Ramsbury. (fn. 181) In 1226 RAMSBURY PREBEND had a yearly value of 40
marks, all of which presumably came from within
the parish. (fn. 182) At 50 marks it was clearly undervalued in 1291 since c. 1290 the prebendary's
income from Baydon alone was leased for 25
marks a year. (fn. 183) The prebendary was entitled to
tithes of corn, wool, and lambs from the whole
parish, and various other tithes and oblations,
some of which were given to the vicars of
Ramsbury. (fn. 184) In 1341 he had a manor house, 2
carucates, 12 a. of meadow, 30 a. of several
pasture and feeding for 100 sheep, 40 a. of
woodland, a mill, and lands held by villeins
whose rents and works were worth 31s. 4d.
yearly. (fn. 185) The prebend was valued at £52 gross in
1535. (fn. 186) As Ramsbury prebend the endowments
were given to Edward, earl of Hertford, in 1545
as part of the exchange between him and Bishop
Salcot. (fn. 187) The estate was given to the Crown by
exchange in 1547. (fn. 188) In 1590 Elizabeth I granted
the tithes from the site of Ramsbury manor house
and its surrounding parkland and woodland
through trustees or agents to Henry, earl of
Pembroke, and they were merged with those
lands. (fn. 189) The remainder of the estate was similarly
granted to William, earl of Pembroke, for a feefarm rent of £44 13s. 4d. in 1609–10. (fn. 190) The rent
had been granted by the Crown before 1639
when it was conveyed, apparently between
trustees, (fn. 191) and since it was not afterwards mentioned was presumably acquired by an earl of
Pembroke before 1677. The land seems to have
been absorbed by Ramsbury manor. The
prebendal tithes descended with that manor.
After the Reformation they were leased in portions, those of Axford for £5 13s. 4d. c. 1610, (fn. 192) of
Baydon for £20 in 1585, (fn. 193) and of Knighton for
£60 c. 1675. (fn. 194) In 1676–7 they were sold to Henry
Powle, who broke up Ramsbury manor by sales
between 1677 and 1681. (fn. 195) The sales included the
majority of the tithes, sold in portions with, or to
the owners of, the estates from which they
arose. (fn. 196) In those cases the tithes were merged. In
other cases tithes arising from lands in Baydon
and Ramsbury Town tithings became separate
estates: they are referred to among the descents of
lands in those places. (fn. 197) The remaining tithes
were sold to Sir William Jones and, as Ramsbury
prebend, passed with Ramsbury manor. (fn. 198) In
1778 those arising from land in Baydon, Park
Town, Ramsbury Town, and Whittonditch
tithings and from land in part of Eastridge tithing
were exchanged for allotments of land totalling
150 a. (fn. 199) The remainder, mainly arising from
Coombe farm in Axford and from the lands of
the Littlecote estate at Thrup and Knighton in
Eastridge tithing, 1,160 a., were commuted for a
rent charge of £348 awarded to Sir Francis
Burdett in 1841. (fn. 200)

Three notable estates in Park Town tithing
were created by sales of the parkland around
Ramsbury manor house by Henry Powle 1677–9.
North of the Kennet the north-east part of the
park, 108 a. including Old field and Old Field
Copse, was bought in 1679 by Edward Stafford
(d.c. 1688) whose relict Anne held it in 1710. (fn. 201)
The Staffords had four daughters, Elizabeth,
wife of John Jennings, Mary, Anne, wife of John
Hall, and Susannah. In 1720 the Jenningses,
Susannah, and the executor of Mary sold the land
to Francis Hawes, a director of the South Sea
Company. After that company collapsed the land
was confiscated by parliamentary trustees who in
1725 sold it to Richard Jones, lord of Ramsbury
manor. (fn. 202) Most of the land was again imparked
c. 1775. (fn. 203)

South of the Kennet the estate called PARK
farm possibly originated in the purchase by
Robert Gilmore of over 100 a. in the high park in
1677. (fn. 204) That land seems to have belonged to a
Mrs. Gilmore in 1705 (fn. 205) but its later descent is
obscure. Before 1771 it was reunited with Ramsbury manor. (fn. 206) Until the Second World War Park
farm included c. 800 a. south of the Plantation
and west of the Ramsbury-Froxfield lane. (fn. 207) The
eastern end of it became part of Ramsbury
airfield. (fn. 208) All of it passed with Ramsbury Manor
to Seymour, earl of Wilton, who in 1953 sold it to
R. A. Chamberlain and Mr. G. W. Wilson. (fn. 209) In
that year they sold the western end of it as Park
farm to J. E. Sandell who in 1969 sold the farm,
232 a., to Mr. F. Clothier, the owner in 1981. (fn. 210)
Park Farm is a house of c. 1830 near which are
some contemporary and later farm buildings.
There has been a house on the site from 1676 or
earlier. (fn. 211)

Alexander Dismore was lessee of over 100 a. in
Ramsbury high park which in 1677 he bought
from Henry Powle. (fn. 212) Buildings and a further 15
a. in the high park, which Powle sold to Thomas
Gilmore in 1677, were bought from Gilmore by
Richard Dismore in 1682. (fn. 213) Those two estates,
which together made up PARK TOWN farm,
were still held by the two Dismores in 1705. (fn. 214)
They passed, apparently added to by several purchases, to Richard's grandson Richard Dismore
whose heirs were his four daughters. (fn. 215) The farm
passed after 1752 to his daughter Martha and her
husband Edward Francis who owned it in 1780. (fn. 216)
From c. 1790 to 1831 or later it belonged to a
Miss Francis and in 1839, when it was a rectangle of 260 a. south of Ramsbury, mostly south
of the Kennet with Park Town Farm in its northwest corner, the estate belonged to Ambrose
Lanfear (d. 1864). (fn. 217) It apparently belonged to
Charles Lanfear from 1865 to 1918, when it was
bought by Sir Francis Burdett. (fn. 218) Nearly the
whole farm, including the flat land above Spring
Hill which was part of Ramsbury airfield, (fn. 219)
passed with Ramsbury Manor to Seymour, earl
of Wilton, who in 1953 sold it to R. A. Chamberlain and Mr. G. W. Wilson. The steep slopes of
Spring Hill belonged to Mr. Wilson in 1981. (fn. 220)
Park Town Farm, then called Harbrook Farm,
and some meadow land remained part of the
Burdett-Fishers' estate in 1981. (fn. 221) The house,
bought by Richard Dismore in 1682 and later
described as 'under the hill', (fn. 222) has walls of rubble
and a central stack in which is a stone bearing
various initials and a date, possibly 1668. The
stone appears to have been reset but a later 17thcentury date for the building of the house is
likely. It has a small 19th-century north extension and in recent years has been greatly enlarged
westwards to incorporate many fittings from
other buildings.

Ramsbury airfield, c. 400 a. in Ramsbury
which had been parts of Park and Park Town
farms, (fn. 223) was divided by R. A. Chamberlain and
Mr. G. W. Wilson in 1953. Chamberlain was
allotted the eastern part which he added to other
land he owned west of the Ramsbury-Froxfield
lane and called Bridge farm. In 1970 he sold
Bridge farm, c. 125 a., to G. S. Wills and it has
since been part of the Littlecote estate. (fn. 224) Mr.
Wilson was allotted the western part. In 1976 he
sold most of it, 300 a., to Mr. R. T. Candy, the
owner in 1981, and retains the rest. (fn. 225)

In 1327 William of Baldonshall and Walter of
Warneford were Ramsbury taxpayers. (fn. 226) In 1331
Walter held an estate called Baldonshall which in
1347 John of Baldonshall settled on himself, his
wife Eleanor, and their son William. (fn. 227) Thomas
Hungerford and his son Thomas gave it by
exchange to John Lillebon in 1368. (fn. 228) In 1412 the
estate belonged to William Winslow (d. 1414)
whose relict Agnes (fl. 1441) and her husband
Robert Andrew (d. 1437) held it in 1416. (fn. 229) Agnes
was succeeded by her son Thomas Winslow,
one of whose four daughters, Joan, married
Henry Hall. (fn. 230) About 1450 an elder Henry Hall
shared title to the estate with Winslow who
conveyed it to him in 1456, presumably as a
settlement on the marriage of Joan and the
younger Henry Hall. (fn. 231) The estate consisted of
more than 100 a. in Park Town tithing and of
many tenements in Ramsbury. (fn. 232) The Halls had
daughters Elizabeth and Agnes who married
respectively the brothers Nicholas and Maurice
Filiol: all four were defendants in a dispute
over the estate among the heirs of Winslow's
daughters c. 1500. (fn. 233) The estate passed to
the Filiols' nephew Sir Thomas Trenchard (d.
before 1559) and came to be called the manor of
RAMSBURY TRENCHARD. (fn. 234) It included
land in several parts of the parish, mostly in Park
Town tithing, and cottages in Ramsbury. (fn. 235) Sir
Thomas was succeeded by a son Thomas and that
Thomas's son Thomas whose son George
(knighted in 1588) held the manor in 1575. (fn. 236) Sir
George was succeeded in 1630 by his son Sir
Thomas (fn. 237) who in 1632 sold part of the manor,
Hales Court farm, c. 185 a. in Park Town tithing
north of the Kennet between Ramsbury, Hilldrop, and the park of Ramsbury Manor, to the
tenant Daniel White. In 1649 White sold the
farm to Richard King of Upham in Aldbourne.
In 1669 King's executor conveyed it to Nicholas
King who in 1682 sold it to Henry Nourse of
Woodlands in Mildenhall. (fn. 238) It passed with
Mildenhall manor to Nourse's daughter Sarah,
countess of Winchilsea, and her husband
William Rollinson. (fn. 239) They sold it in 1731 to
Charles Bruce, Lord Bruce, who in the same year
sold it to Richard Jones, lord of Ramsbury
manor. (fn. 240) It was absorbed by that manor. The
remainder of Ramsbury Trenchard manor was
sold in 1631 to Thomas Freeman (d. 1637), a
Ramsbury tanner. Freeman was apparently
succeeded by another Thomas Freeman, a bankrupt in 1688 when his lands were sold. Most of
what had been Ramsbury Trenchard manor was
acquired by Richard Jones before 1700. (fn. 241)

BLAKE'S farm in Park Town tithing was in
1328 settled by Walter Blake on the marriage of
his son Ralph (fl. 1341). (fn. 242) The farm descended in
the Blake family, possibly with East Hayes manor
in Ogbourne St. Andrew. (fn. 243) Thomas Blake held it
in 1462 (fn. 244) and it descended to William Blake (d. c.
1550). (fn. 245) It belonged to the owners of East Hayes
until, in the 18th century, it was acquired by one
of the Pophams of Littlecote. Dorothy Popham,
relict of Francis Popham (d. 1780), held it in 1780
when, as Ambrose farm, it was said to be in
Ramsbury Town tithing. (fn. 246) The land has since
remained part of the Littlecote estate. (fn. 247)

The manor of HILLDROP in Ramsbury
Town tithing possibly originated in the gift by
Bishop Bohun to Everard of Hurst of 5 hides at
Ramsbury, which had been held by Alexander
nephew of Everard and was part of Ramsbury
manor. The land passed with Membury and
Bishop Poore confirmed Everard's son Roger's
free tenure of it in 1196. (fn. 248) Land at Hilldrop, rated
as ½ knight's fee and held in the mid 13th century
by Reynold of Ramsbury, was possibly the same. (fn. 249)
Reynold still held it in 1275 (fn. 250) and as Hilldrop
manor it had passed by 1278 to his son Reynold, a
minor, who in 1310 settled it on his daughter
Elizabeth and her husband Reynold son of
Peter. (fn. 251) Elizabeth, then a widow, conveyed it in
1329. (fn. 252) In 1333 the manor was settled on Sir
William Everard and his wife Elizabeth, presumably the same woman, and it seems to have
passed to Thomas, son of Simon of Ramsbury,
and his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir William
Everard. (fn. 253) Thomas and Margaret had no issue
and in 1386 John of Ramsbury, son of Simon of
Ramsbury, claimed to have inherited the manor
from them and from Elizabeth. (fn. 254) Between 1392
and 1394 John settled it on himself and his wife
Maud with remainder to Sir Thomas Brook and
his wife Joan. (fn. 255) The land possibly belonged to
Nicholas Read in 1412. (fn. 256) It passed to Nicholas
Wootton who was said to be of Ramsbury in 1417
and to whom Joan, relict of Sir Thomas Brook,
conveyed or confirmed it in 1423. (fn. 257) In 1446
Wootton (d. 1454) settled the manor on himself and his wife Elizabeth for their lives and on
his daughter Agnes and her husband William
York in tail. (fn. 258) The Yorks entered on it in 1454. (fn. 259)
William (d. 1476) was succeeded by his son
John (d. 1512) who gave the manor to his son
Thomas in 1509. (fn. 260) Thomas, who was thrice
sheriff of Wiltshire, (fn. 261) was succeeded in 1542
by his nephew Roger Bodenham, but Roger's
mother Joan and her husband Stephen Parry
possibly held the manor until c. 1556. (fn. 262) In 1566 it
belonged to Henry Bodenham, (fn. 263) who is more
likely to have been a son of Parry than a close
relative of Roger Bodenham. Afterwards it
descended in the Bodenham family. Roger (d.
1579) had sons Thomas (d. 1583) and Sir Roger
(d. 1623) who was his brother's heir. Hilldrop
passed to Sir Roger's son William (d. 1641) and
to William's son Roger (fl. 1689) who had sons
Edward, Walter, William, and probably Roger. (fn. 264)
A Roger Bodenham held the manor in 1699. (fn. 265)
One of the Bodenhams sold most of it to one
Hawkins who in 1704 sold that portion to
William Davies. One of the Bodenhams sold the
remainder to Davies in 1714. (fn. 266) Davies's heir was
his son Thomas who in 1701, at the death of his
grandfather Thomas Batson, had taken the surname Batson. Thomas was succeeded in 1759 by
his brother Edmund who then changed his name
to Thomas Batson. After his death in 1770
Batson's relict Elizabeth held Hilldrop manor
until her own death in 1808. She devised it for life
to her nephew Henry Maxwell and afterwards to
members of a branch of the Batson family
distantly related to Edmund Davies (Thomas
Batson) and herself. (fn. 267) Maxwell may have held it
until 1824, but it may have belonged to Robert
Batson in 1819 and to E. Batson from 1825 to 1830
or later. (fn. 268) It passed to Robert Batson's brother
Alfred who held it until his death in 1856.
Alfred's heir was his son Alfred (d. 1885) who
was succeeded by his son Francis Cunninghame
Batson (d. 1931). (fn. 269) Hilldrop farm was sold in
1921 to George Wilson and Henry Wilson: in
1937 Henry Wilson and George Wilson's relict,
Mrs. M. M. Wilson, sold it to Sir Francis
Burdett, lord of Ramsbury manor. (fn. 270) In 1957 the
farm was sold to Bertram Ede who in that year
sold it to Mr. C. E. Eliot-Cohen, the owner in
1981. (fn. 271)

The lords of Hilldrop manor may have lived in
a house on it in the 13th and 14th centuries, and
Nicholas Wootton and nearly all later owners
have done so. (fn. 272) Its name suggests that Hilldrop
manor house was on the downs north of Ramsbury. (fn. 273) The house presumably on its site, Hilldrop Farm, is a brick house of c. 1820 extended
north and east in the later 19th century. A house
called the Rookery in 1880, (fn. 274) Parliament Piece in
1981, was built beside Back Lane in Ramsbury in
the early 17th century, presumably for one of the
Bodenhams, and was later lived in by the Batsons.
It had a central chimney stack with rooms on
both sides and was of two storeys with attics and
cellars. Late in the 17th century a rear north
wing, containing a staircase and a room on each
floor, was added at the west end. The new, and
some of the old, rooms were then fitted to a high
standard. Possibly at the same time the gatepiers,
surmounted by urns, were built and the early
17th-century barn was encased in brick and
converted into a coach house. The house was
extended at the east end of the south front c. 1800
and in the late 19th century service rooms in
17th-century style were built in the angle between
the 17th-century ranges. It was separated from
Hilldrop farm in the earlier 20th century and in
1981 belonged to Mr. J. H. Pinches. (fn. 275)

An estate in Ramsbury Town tithing called
LOVE'S passed in the Love family for more
than two centuries. Walter Love held land in
Ramsbury in 1241; (fn. 276) Alice Love was mentioned
in 1249, William Love and Ralph Love in 1258,
an elder Robert Love in 1299, and elder and
younger Robert Loves in 1305. (fn. 277) In 1331 Walter
of Warneford held land which had been a Robert
Love's but Robert Love (fl. 1341) may still have
held a substantial estate. (fn. 278) John Love (fl. c. 1390)
was possibly succeeded by Walter Love who
conveyed the estate in 1432. (fn. 279) Walter's relict Joan
Love held it in 1462 when it was rated as 1
carucate. (fn. 280) About 1510 the estate seems to have
been acquired by John York, presumably by
purchase, from Harry Henley otherwise Love
whose wife Joan then sold her claim to dower. (fn. 281)
Love's thereafter descended with Hilldrop
manor. (fn. 282) In the early 18th century, however, one
of the Bodenhams may have sold it separately
from the manor because in 1780 Love's farm
belonged to John Barnes. It passed to Thomas
Barnes c. 1791. It was apparently sold by Barnes
to William Parsons in 1807 and by him c. 1813 to
Edward Graves Meyrick (d. 1839), vicar of
Ramsbury. (fn. 283) In 1839 the farm, 50 a., belonged to
Meyrick's relict. (fn. 284) Meyrick had sons James,
Henry Howard, Charles, and Frederick but the
descent of the farm is obscure. (fn. 285) In 1892 some
of its land was part of Ramsbury manor. (fn. 286) In
1981 Love's farm was owned by Mr. E. F. M.
Talmage. (fn. 287) The farmhouse is a brick building of
the 18th century.

John Helm (fl. 1249) possibly held land in
Ramsbury which may have passed to his son
William (fl. 1286). (fn. 288) In 1331 a William Helm held
an estate in Ramsbury Town tithing, then rated
as 2 yardlands, later called Bacon's and afterwards ELMDOWN farm. (fn. 289) Its descent in the
Bacon family before 1462, when it was held by
Joan, relict of John Stampford, and already
called Bacon's, (fn. 290) is not clear. John Bacon held it
c. 1556, (fn. 291) Richard Bacon in 1559 and 1567. (fn. 292) It
passed like the Bacons' estate in Upavon to
Nicholas Bacon (fl. 1598) and his daughter Joan
Noyes who died holding it in 1622 leaving a son
William Noyes as heir. (fn. 293) William presumably
sold the farm, which was apparently John Gilmore's in 1661. (fn. 294) Catherine Gilmore, a widow,
held it in the late 1670s. (fn. 295) It was possibly conveyed to Richard Francis c. 1713. (fn. 296) Between 1722
and 1726 Elmdown farm was apparently acquired
by Francis Popham of Littlecote. (fn. 297) It has since
been part of the Littlecote estate. (fn. 298) Elmdown
Farm is a timber-framed house of 1654 (fn. 299) with a
three-room plan. It was encased in brick in the
early 19th century when a west kitchen was added
behind the north end. The house was extensively
restored c. 1970, when many old fittings
were introduced, and has since been extended
southwards.

In 1778 the Revd. Daniel Boreman owned an
estate of c. 85 a. in Ramsbury Town tithing
based on buildings on the north side of Oxford
Street. (fn. 300) About 1787 it was bought by Henry
Read and added to the Crowood estate. (fn. 301)

The tithes arising from Hilldrop manor were
bought from Henry Powle by Roger Bodenham
in 1677 but were not merged with the land. (fn. 302)
They were apparently not sold with either part of
the manor in the early 18th century. (fn. 303) They were
twice conveyed in 1720, and in 1722 were
acquired by William Davies from Richard Savors
and others. (fn. 304) They were then merged.

The tithes of Elmdown farm were conveyed by
Thomas Abbot and his wife Martha to James
Carrant in 1715. (fn. 305) They belonged to a Miss Anne
Carrant, apparently from 1780 or earlier to 1831
or later, and were acquired in 1835 by Edward
William Leyborne-Popham who owned the
farm. (fn. 306) In 1841 the tithes were valued at £21 15s.
and commuted. (fn. 307)

Most of the copyholds and leaseholds in
Whittonditch tithing, all part of Ramsbury
manor, were sold by Henry Powle between 1677
and 1681. (fn. 308) Most of what remained in Ramsbury
manor was called PRESTON farm in 1778. (fn. 309) It
was sold as two farms c. 1785. Thomas Rogers (d.
c. 1801) bought that called Preston farm. By 1804
William Hillier had acquired it, and it passed to
James Hillier who held the farm, 84 a., in 1839. (fn. 310)
After Hillier's death in 1840 Preston farm was
apparently bought by Sir Francis Burdett (d.
1844) and it was again added to Ramsbury manor. (fn. 311)
Sir Francis Burdett sold it in 1912, probably to
Moses Woolland, and it became part of the
Baydon Manor estate. As a farm of 300 a. it was
sold with the estate in 1947 and c. 1949. (fn. 312) It was
retained by Sidney Watts, after whose death in
1961 it was sold. (fn. 313) In 1981 most of the land
belonged to Maj. H. O. Stibbard and was in his
Marridge Hill estate. The eastern part of it then
belonged to the executors of G. B. Smith as part
of Whittonditch farm. (fn. 314) Preston Farm is an 18thcentury house extended in the 19th century.

The remainder of the 18th-century Preston
farm, 96 a. between Whittonditch and Preston,
was bought by Anthony Woodroffe c. 1785,
passed to Sarah Woodroffe c. 1815, and c. 1826
was acquired by William Atherton who owned
the land in 1839. (fn. 315) Sir Francis Burdett (d. 1844)
may have bought the land, which before 1899 had
been added to the Crowood estate. (fn. 316)

In 1677 Henry Read bought from Henry
Powle an estate in Whittonditch tithing based on
a copyhold called CROWOOD and including
land which became Witcha farm. (fn. 317) The estate
had been held as tenants by members of the
Banks family, to whom Read (d. 1706) was
apparently related. (fn. 318) It descended, presumably
from father to son, to Henry Read (d. 1756) and
to Henry Read (d. 1786) whose heir was his son
Henry (d. 1821). (fn. 319) That Henry devised the
Crowood estate, 1,050 a., to his daughter Mary
Ann, wife of John Richmond Seymour (d.
1848). (fn. 320) The Seymours were succeeded in turn
by their sons Henry Richmond Seymour (d.
1876) and the Revd. Charles Frederick Seymour
(d. 1897), whose son Charles Read Seymour
apparently sold the estate in 1915 to Frederick
Charles Giddins, the owner until 1945. (fn. 321) Later
owners were the politician Sir Oswald Ernald
Mosley, Bt., from 1945 to 1951; Lord George
Francis John Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 1951–60;
Edward Henry Berkeley Portman, 1960–6; Mark
George Christopher Jeffreys, Baron Jeffreys,
1966–9; and Philip Chetwode, Baron Chetwode,
1969–79. (fn. 322) In 1979 the estate, 1,059 a. including
land in Baydon and Aldbourne, was sold by Lord
Chetwode to Mr. J. F. Dennis, the owner in
1981. (fn. 323) Crowood House has a recessed north-east
entrance front of five bays. The centre of the
house has walls partly of timber framing and
possibly 17th-century, and on the ground floor
contains much reset early 17th-century panelling. It was apparently heightened in the late 17th
century. Unequal wings which project northeastwards from its ends are also 17th-century. (fn. 324)
In the late 18th century large north and west
additions were built to provide more service
rooms and a new staircase and dining room.
More new rooms were built at the south corner
of the house in the early 19th century when most
of the older rooms were refitted: a stable and a
cottage north of the house were also built then. In
the late 18th century there were extensive formal
gardens south-west of the house and beyond
them a small park with a boundary plantation. (fn. 325)

A holding of more than 5 yardlands,
WHITTONDITCH farm, was bought from
Henry Powle by Jonathan Knackstone in 1677.
Knackstone (fl. 1689) had sons Thomas and
Stephen, both of whom held land in Whittonditch tithing in 1705. (fn. 327) Whittonditch farm passed
to Stephen's son Jonathan (fl. 1736). In 1752 that
Jonathan's son Jonathan was foreclosed from the
estate which passed to his principal mortgagee,
Henry Read of Crowood. (fn. 328) Whittonditch farm
was part of the Crowood estate until in 1949
it was sold by Sir Oswald Mosley to a Mr. Day. It
was later bought by G. B. Smith whose executors
owned it in 1981. (fn. 329)

In 1567 Ramsbury Trenchard manor included
6½ yardlands in Whittonditch and Eastridge
tithings of which most was at Marridge Hill. (fn. 330) Sir
Thomas Trenchard may have sold those lands c.
1632, when he sold Hales Court farm in Park
Town tithing. (fn. 331) Two freeholds in Whittonditch
tithing were held c. 1556 by John Goddard of
Upham and William Moore. (fn. 332) Moore's was
bought by Thomas Seymour c. 1562. (fn. 333) In those
estates and in sales of other copyholds and leaseholds by Henry Powle 1677–81 two later 18thcentury freeholds at Marridge Hill and others
at Whittonditch and Preston presumably
originated.

Thomas Shefford or Shelford, possibly in
1760, owned an estate at Marridge Hill which
James Lovegrove bought in 1785. (fn. 334) From Lovegrove the estate passed c. 1800, presumably by
will, to either his brother-in-law Cheyney
Waldron or to Waldron's son and namesake: (fn. 335)
the son held it at his death in 1819. Waldron
devised his MARRIDGE HILL estate to his
nephew John Waldron, a minor, who entered on
it c. 1827. (fn. 336) John held the estate, 325 a. in 1839,
until 1851 or later. (fn. 337) It was held from 1867 or
earlier to 1880 or later by Stephen Waldron and
from 1895 or earlier until his death in 1901 by
James Lovegrove Waldron, John Waldron's
son, (fn. 338) whose relict sold the estate, 554 a., in
1904. (fn. 339) It was apparently bought by Arthur
Edward White but in 1911 belonged to Moses
Woolland (d. 1918), under whose will its name
was changed to BAYDON MANOR estate. (fn. 340) It
passed to Woolland's son Walter who in 1947
sold the estate, then over 3,000 a. in Ramsbury,
Baydon, and elsewhere, to Edwards & Sons
(Inkpen) Ltd., timber merchants. That company
sold it c. 1949 to a group of farmers, John White,
Sidney Watts, and Albert Pembroke, who
immediately divided it. (fn. 341) The land north of
Baydon Manor which had been John Waldron's
in 1839 was part of Marridge Hill farm in 1947. (fn. 342)
It was bought c. 1950 by Maj. H. O. Stibbard, the
owner of over 600 a. at Marridge Hill in 1981. (fn. 343)
Baydon Manor, formerly Marridge Hill House,
is a red-brick house of c. 1820 with an east
entrance front of three bays. A water tower was
added to the north side of the house in the late
19th century, and the house was extended westwards for A. E. White in 1905–6. West of it a
large detached winter garden was built c. 1900
mainly of cast iron, glass, and wood.

George Moore (d. 1729) possibly owned the
estate at Marridge Hill which descended in the
Moore family with Riverside farm in Axford. (fn. 344)
The land, 144 a., belonged to George Pearce
Moore in 1839. (fn. 345) It was later part of the Baydon
Manor estate, was part of Marridge Hill farm in
1947, and was part of Maj. Stibbard's estate
in 1981. (fn. 346)

In 1753 a Roger Spanswick owned an estate in
Whittonditch tithing which, with land in Eastridge tithing, was called MINDEN, later Upper
Whittonditch, farm. (fn. 347) Roger was succeeded
between 1778 and 1784 by his son Roger. After
Roger's death c. 1810 the farm, 165 a. in 1839,
was acquired by Robert Nalder who owned it in
1842. (fn. 348) The lessee in 1839 was Lovegrove
Waldron: before 1909 he or one or more of his
successors acquired the freehold, and thereafter
the estate, which was enlarged, descended with
Eastridge manor. (fn. 349) Upper Whittonditch Farm is
a house of 18th-century origin.

Thomas Lovegrove (d. 1778) bought a farm at
Preston c. 1777 and devised it to his nephew, the
younger Cheney Waldron, who held it until his
death in 1819. Waldron devised it to his nephew
Lovegrove Waldron, a minor, who owned the
land, 102 a., in 1839. (fn. 350) Its later descent is obscure
until 1947 when it was in the Baydon Manor
estate as part of Preston farm. (fn. 351)

Several large freeholds were created early in
Eastridge tithing and became manors: only a
small proportion of the land in the tithing, most
of it at Marridge Hill, was held by copy or lease
from Ramsbury manor. (fn. 352) The three estates in the
tithing at Marridge Hill in the later 18th century
presumably originated in sales of such copyholds
and leaseholds by Henry Powle 1677–81 and in
earlier 17th-century sales of the land there which
was part of Ramsbury Trenchard manor. (fn. 353)

In 1677 Stephen Banks bought 2 yardlands in
Eastridge tithing from Powle. His estate
passed to one Crouch, possibly Stephen Crouch
(fl. 1735), and later belonged to the two Roger
Spanswicks in turn. (fn. 354) It passed with the Spanswicks' land in Whittonditch tithing as part of
Minden farm.

In 1773 John Whitelocke, lord of a manor in
Chilton Foliat, owned Marridge Hill House, a
large house surrounded by a park. (fn. 355) It passed at
his death in 1787 to Sarah Liddiard or Whitelocke, who c. 1791 sold it to Henry Read. (fn. 356) The
house was demolished before 1828. (fn. 357) The land,
with more of Read's at Marridge Hill, passed, as a
farm of 122 a. in 1839, with the Crowood estate of
which it remained part in 1899. (fn. 358) In 1981 the site
of the house and some of the land were part
of Maj. H. O. Stibbard's Marridge Hill estate.
Most of the remaining land was part of Witcha
farm. (fn. 359)

A large estate at Marridge Hill, including 80 a.
of pasture called Broad Breaches formerly
demesne of Ramsbury manor, (fn. 360) was accumulated
after 1677, possibly by the Mildenhall family,
and belonged to Thomas Mildenhall in 1780.
Mildenhall apparently sold the Breaches to
Cheyney Waldron, presumably the younger, c.
1788. (fn. 361) At his death in 1819 the younger Cheyney
Waldron devised the land to his nephew Thomas
Waldron, a minor, with remainder to his nephew
John Waldron, also a minor. (fn. 362) Trustees held it
until 1830 or later, but by 1839 it was apparently
John's and was absorbed by his main Marridge
Hill estate. (fn. 363) Mildenhall sold the remainder of his
estate to Henry Read shortly before Read's death
in 1821, and it was added to Read's other land at
Marridge Hill. (fn. 364)

The manor of LITTLECOTE seems to have
belonged to Robert of Durnford in 1182 and to
have passed in 1189–90 to Roger of Durnford,
whose right was disputed by Ralph de Brewer
and his wife Muriel but confirmed by them in
1198. (fn. 365) Brewer was possibly lord of Axford
manor and the overlordship of Littlecote manor,
rated as 1 knight's fee, belonged in the 13th and
14th centuries to the lords of Axford. (fn. 366) It was still
claimed in 1404 (fn. 367) but in the mid 15th century the
lords of Littlecote themselves acquired Axford
manor.

Despite a claim by Peter de Percy against
Roger in 1202 (fn. 368) Littlecote manor remained in the
Durnford family. It was held by Roger's son
Richard of Durnford in 1219 and 1241 and
possibly by a Sir Richard of Durnford in 1258. (fn. 369)
The manor was later held by Roger of Calstone
who c. 1292 died holding it and leaving as heir a
year-old son Roger. (fn. 370) In 1328 Roger (d. c. 1342)
settled Littlecote on his marriage, and in 1356 the
manor was held by his son Laurence. (fn. 371) By 1385 it
had passed to Laurence's son Thomas (d. between 1412 and 1419) whose heir was his daughter
Elizabeth, wife of William Darell (d. between
1439 and 1453). (fn. 372) At Elizabeth's death in 1464
the manor descended to her son Sir George
Darell (d. 1474), (fn. 373) who was succeeded by his son
Sir Edward (d. 1530). (fn. 374) Sir Edward's heir was his
grandson Sir Edward Darell (d. 1549), (fn. 375) much of
whose estate was devised for life to his mistress
Mary Daniel. Littlecote manor, however, passed
to his son William, then aged nine. (fn. 376)

As a result of a dispute with Sir Henry Knyvet,
William Darell was imprisoned in the Fleet in
1579 for slandering the queen. He had been the
co-respondent in Sir Walter Hungerford's action
for divorce against his wife Anne 1568–70, and
was or had been at law with many of his
neighbours including Henry and Edward
Manners, earls of Rutland, over Chilton Foliat
1563–5, William Hyde over Uffington (Berks.,
later Oxon.) 1573–4, Edward Seymour, earl of
Hertford, over manors in Great Bedwyn and
Burbage, and Hugh Stukeley over Axford, litigation arising partly from his father's will and his
own minority. Accusations, almost certainly
groundless, of infanticide and murder were made
against him. (fn. 377) The expenses incurred by his
imprisonment, incessant litigation, building, (fn. 378)
and attendance at court led him to sell the
reversion, for a term of years if he had male issue,
of Littlecote to Sir Thomas Bromley (d. 1587),
Lord Chancellor, apparently in the early 1580s. (fn. 379)
About 1586 the reversion seems to have been
transferred on similar terms to Darell's lawyer
and adviser John Popham. (fn. 380) Darell was indicted
at Marlborough assizes in 1588, again for
slandering the sovereign. (fn. 381) The survival of many
documents illuminating his affairs (fn. 382) has led to
much speculation about his life and motives. (fn. 383) He
died without male issue in 1589 and Popham
entered on Littlecote manor. (fn. 384)

The manor descended from father to son in the
Popham family, from John (d. 1607), Lord Chief
Justice and a knight from 1592, to Sir Francis (d.
1644), Alexander (d. 1669), Sir Francis (d. 1674),
and another Alexander. (fn. 385) At that Alexander's
death in 1705 Littlecote passed to his uncle
Alexander Popham (d. 1705), and the manor
again passed from father to son to Francis (d.
1735), Edward (d. 1772), and Francis (d. 1780),
whose relict Dorothy Popham held it until her
death c. 1797 and devised it to her husband's
reputed son Francis Popham. At that Francis's
death without issue in 1804 the manor passed
to the nephew of Francis (d. 1780), Edward
William Leyborne-Popham (d. 1843), who devised it to his son Francis (d. 1880). (fn. 386) Littlecote
passed in turn to that Francis's sons Francis
William Leyborne-Popham (d.s.p. 1907) (fn. 387) and
Hugh Francis Arthur Leyborne-Popham, who
sold it in 1929 to Sir Ernest Salter Wills, Bt. (d.
1958). (fn. 388) It descended to Wills's second son G. S.
Wills (d. 1979), whose son Mr. D. S. Wills was
the owner in 1981. (fn. 389)

Plan of Littlecote House

In the early 14th century, when he had a chapel
there, it seems likely that Roger of Calstone lived
at Littlecote. (fn. 390) Apart from a late medieval range
of building containing a chapel Littlecote House
was rebuilt in the later 16th century for William
Darell. (fn. 391) The new building was around two
courts: the chapel range became the north side of
the west court. The principal rooms and the
entrance porch and hall are on the south side of
the east court. The north side of that court, the
contract to build which is dated 1583, (fn. 392) contains
a long gallery on the first floor. Possibly because,
when the court was built, older building survived
at its north-west corner, the north and south
sides are not on the same north-south axis. Most
of the house was of flint rubble but the south
front was faced with brick. A gatehouse, aligned
with the porch, and garden walls were built of
brick in 1585. (fn. 393) Most of the work on the house
had presumably been done by then, but the
fittings inside may not have been finished for
several years. (fn. 394) In the mid 17th century an east
pulpit and a west gallery extending along both
sides were built in the chapel. (fn. 395) In the mid 18th
century the south side of the west court, until
then of a single storey, was rebuilt to full height,
and about then the adjacent drawing room was
altered and several windows in the house were
sashed. (fn. 396) Other 18th-century work included the
alteration of several fireplaces and the decoration
of the 'Dutch' room with a painted ceiling and
reset painted panelling. In 1810 the south side of
the west court was again demolished and was
rebuilt as a conservatory with tall Gothic
windows. The west side was also demolished
then and left open. There were alterations to
several rooms including the drawing room and,
to designs by John Robson, (fn. 397) the library. In the
late 19th century the four service rooms east of
the main entrance were made into a dining room
and a study, in which there is a fine, presumably
reset, chimneypiece dated 1592 and panelling in
early 17th-century style in which the date 1896
has been carved. Both rooms have ribbed
ceilings. The adjacent main staircase is also of the
late 19th century. A ribbed ceiling was made in
the long gallery in 1899, (fn. 398) but the original frieze
incorporating the Darell arms was retained.
Several other decorated plaster ceilings are
possibly of similar date, but it is not clear when
the sashes in the front were replaced by mullions
and transoms. In the 19th century singlestoreyed service rooms were built over most of
the east courtyard and a staircase was built at its
south side.

Walled gardens and yards surrounded the
house in the later 17th century and included a
west raised walk from which there were views
across the adjoining park. (fn. 399) Most of those
features and formal gardens apparently survived
in the later 18th century but by then the gatehouse had been demolished. (fn. 400) South of the house
the walls were apparently demolished before
1806 and the park was brought up to the house, (fn. 401)
but early walls survive north of it. The main
feature of the park in the late 18th century was
Park Coppice, on the high ground in the west
part, which had a central clearing and eleven
radiating vistas. (fn. 402) There are extensive 18th- and
19th-century farm buildings east of the house,
mostly in Chilton Foliat.

In the 15th and 16th centuries the Darells were
active in county government: from 1420 to 1519
a Darell was sheriff one year in six. (fn. 403) Littlecote
House presumably became busier and more
celebrated as a result of such activity. In the
17th century it was the home of a nationally
important family, frequently visited by politicians, (fn. 404) and in 1688 was visited by William of
Orange after meeting James II's commissioners
at Hungerford. (fn. 405)

Jocelin de Bohun, bishop of Salisbury
1142–84, granted land at MEMBURY, presumably part of Ramsbury manor until then, to
Everard of Hurst, to whom he may have granted
Hilldrop. (fn. 406) After Everard's death Bishop Bohun
conveyed it to Everard's son Roger. (fn. 407) The grant
to Roger was confirmed by the king in 1175 and
by Bishop Herbert Poore in 1196. (fn. 408) Gerard of
Membury seems to have held the land in the
1220s (fn. 409) and Sir Peter of Membury did so in the
1240s and 1250s when it was rated as 1 knight's
fee. (fn. 410) Between 1256 and 1262 Peter gave the
manor of Membury to Giles of Bridport, bishop
of Salisbury, in exchange for a life interest in the
bishop's demesne land in Baydon. (fn. 411) Membury
thus again became part of Ramsbury manor. (fn. 412)
In 1678 Henry Powle sold the land as Membury
farm to Thomas Seymour (d. c. 1717). Seymour's heirs were his daughters Anne, wife of
Toby Richmond, Jane, who granted the land
which she inherited from her father to Anne's
and Toby's son Seymour, and Frances, wife of
John Walford. (fn. 413) Seymour Richmond (d. c. 1784)
held the farm in 1720. His heir was his daughter
Alethea (d. 1786), whose husband Joseph Gabbit
held it until c. 1790. (fn. 414) It was then sold to
the tenant Thomas Bacon. (fn. 415) It was acquired,
presumably by purchase, c. 1803 by Richard
Townsend, who may have been succeeded c.
1815 by a younger Richard Townsend, the owner
in 1839. (fn. 416) Thereafter the descent of the farm is
obscure until 1903 when the Revd. Theodore de
Lanulph Sprye owned it. Sprye held it until 1919
or later. (fn. 417) From 1922 or earlier it was part of
Walter Woolland's Baydon Manor estate and as a
farm of 363 a. was sold in 1947 and c. 1949. (fn. 418) Noel
Bechely Crundall bought it in 1949 and after his
death in 1968 it was sold to Mr. A. A. Horne, the
owner in 1981. (fn. 419) The 12th-century keep of a
castle at Membury was the site of a house built in
the Middle Ages south of Membury fort. (fn. 420) The
site was possibly deserted after the manor was reunited with Ramsbury manor in the mid 13th
century. A farmhouse later stood further south.
Membury House was built on its site in the 1960s
following the destruction by fire of its predecessor. (fn. 421) West of the house 19th- and possibly
early 20th-century outbuildings and stables are
now dwellings, east of the house is a walled
garden, and at the end of the drive south of the
house is a 19th-century lodge.

The endowment of Membury chapel was
granted as an appurtenance of Ramsbury manor
to Edward, earl of Hertford, in 1545, (fn. 422) but in
1574, valued at 20s., was claimed by the Crown
from the tenant of Membury farm as the concealed land of a dissolved chantry. (fn. 423) In 1575 it
was granted to agents or speculators and later it
was again part of Membury farm. (fn. 424)

The land of THRUP or East Thrup descended
in a family which took its name from the place.
Before 1249 it possibly belonged to Osmund
Geraud, otherwise Osmund of Thrup, and in
the mid 13th century it was Adam of Thrup's. (fn. 425)
In 1275, when it was rated as 1 knight's fee, it was
held by Adam's heirs, (fn. 426) one of whom may have
been John of Eastrop (d. before 1300). John's
brother Roger held the land in 1300. (fn. 427) Roger died
before 1308 leaving as heir a son Roger, a minor,
whose heir was his daughter Evelyn, wife of
David of Witchampton. (fn. 428) She held the land in
1376. (fn. 429) In 1392 she released her right to it, and in
1394 trustees settled it on her son Robert of
Thrup and his wife Agnes. (fn. 430) Robert died in the
period 1408–11 and was succeeded by his
daughter. (fn. 431) The land was possibly sold c. 1419 to
Robert Andrew to whom Alice Witchampton,
granddaughter of Evelyn Witchampton, possibly
Robert of Thrup's daughter, and relict of John
Upton, then released her right. (fn. 432) Andrew held
Thrup in 1428 when, for reasons that are
obscure, it was said to have been formerly held by
John of Coventry (fl. 1327). (fn. 433) It was afterwards
acquired, presumably by purchase, by William
Darell of Littlecote or his relict Elizabeth, who
died seised of Thrup manor in 1464. (fn. 434) As Thrup
farm and as part of Knighton farm it passed with
Littlecote manor until in 1896 it was sold to V. J.
Watney. (fn. 435) It was later reunited with Littlecote
manor, presumably by Sir Ernest Salter Wills in
1929. (fn. 436) In 1979 Thrup farm, 178 a., was sold to
Mr. R. A. Pearce. (fn. 437)

Another estate at Thrup, the origin of which is
obscure, belonged in 1780 to a Revd. Mr.
Topping, presumably Thomas Topping, vicar of
Iwerne Minster (Dors.) from 1783 to 1822 or
later. Francis Popham (d. 1804) apparently
bought it from him c. 1804 and it became part of
Thrup farm. (fn. 438)

In 1291 Poughley priory in Chaddleworth
(Berks.) held an estate in Ramsbury parish, in
1331 expressly described as in Eastridge and later
called the manor of EASTRIDGE. (fn. 439) In 1428 it
was rated as ½ knight's fee. (fn. 440) It belonged to the
priory until in 1525 the priory was dissolved so
that its revenues could be used by Cardinal
Wolsey for Cardinal College, Oxford. Eastridge
was granted to Wolsey in 1526. (fn. 441) After Wolsey's
death in 1530 the college's endowments reverted
to the Crown and in 1531 the endowments of
Poughley priory, including Eastridge, were
granted to Westminster Abbey. (fn. 442) They were
again taken by the Crown at the Dissolution. (fn. 443)
Eastridge was granted to John Carlton in 1541. (fn. 444)
Carlton was succeeded after 1559 by Anthony
Carlton, who in 1564 was licensed to convey the
estate to Richard Pocock. (fn. 445) Carlton was named as
owner in 1566 and 1567 but the land passed to
Pocock (d. c. 1596), who in 1582 settled it on
the marriage of his son Giles. (fn. 446) In 1624 Giles was
succeeded by his son Richard (d. c. 1654), whose
son Richard (d. 1694) devised his Eastridge estate
to his own son Richard (d.s.p. 1718). The estate
passed to that Richard's sister Sarah (d. 1733)
and her husband Christopher Capel (d. 1740).
After Christopher's death it apparently passed to
his brother William (d. c. 1779), whose heir was
his cousin William Capel. (fn. 447) Eastridge was sold by
Capel c. 1791 to Cheyney Waldron, presumably
the elder, (fn. 448) whose son John held the estate from c.
1791 to c. 1819. (fn. 449) John (d. before 1820) was
succeeded by his eldest son Lovegrove (a minor
in 1819, d. 1867) who devised his lands to his sons
Thomas White (d. 1903), Lovegrove, and Walter
Brind (d. 1913) as tenants in common. (fn. 450) Eastridge was apparently held by T. W. Waldron
whose executors sold it to V. J. Watney in 1909. (fn. 451)
Watney sold it in 1919 to Gerard Lee Bevan,
who sold it in 1922 to Sir Ernest Salter Wills.
From 1929 Eastridge has been part of the
Willses' Littlecote estate. (fn. 452) Eastridge House was
built in the style of a villa c. 1815. Its south front
is of three bays with a central Doric porch. The
gardens contain some trees which may be as old
as the house, but the long entrance avenue, the
lodge, and landscaping were created in the 1930s.

Ramsbury manor seems to have included little
land in Knighton which, before the 15th century,
may have been divided among several small
estates. (fn. 453) William Darell and his wife Elizabeth
bought an estate called Hopgrass in Knighton
from William Horshill in 1426, and another from
John Eastbury in 1432. (fn. 454) The Darell family built
up a large estate there which in the 1470s was
called KNIGHTON manor. (fn. 455) As Knighton farm
it has passed with Littlecote manor.

In 1300 William of Wantage apparently
acquired a small estate in Membury. (fn. 456) A carucate
there later belonged to John of Wantage and
descended to his son William (d. before 1369)
and his brother Thomas of Winterbourne. In
1369 John's daughter Joan conveyed it to John of
Eastbury (d. 1374), escheator of Berkshire, his
wife Catherine, and their son Thomas. The
validity of the conveyance was challenged in 1374
because Joan (d. 1392) was found to be of
unsound mind and in John of Eastbury's keeping, but was upheld. (fn. 457) In 1406 John Wodhay and
his wife Joan claimed the land from Thomas of
Eastbury as Joan's descendants. (fn. 458) The claim
apparently failed, but later owners of the carucate
are unknown.

Gerard of Membury may have held land in
Eastridge in 1221, and in the mid 13th century
Sir Peter of Membury conveyed an estate there to
Nicholas Eustace. (fn. 459) In 1275 John de Cornialles
held ½ knight's fee there. (fn. 460) Maud, daughter of
John Fleming, conveyed 1 carucate in Eastridge
to John Bacon, his wife Sarah, and his son John in
the late 13th century. (fn. 461) Sarah and the younger
John Bacon conveyed it to Ellis Farman in
1319. (fn. 462) Nothing is known of the later descent of
those estates.

Robert at the green possibly held land in
Knighton in 1327. (fn. 463) Lands conveyed by his son
Roger in 1364 presumably included it. (fn. 464) In 1399
trustees conveyed to Joan at the marsh, with
remainder to John son of Robert at the marsh,
land in Knighton which had been Robert's. (fn. 465)
Poughley priory's Eastridge manor included land
in Knighton which in 1439 was leased to William
and Elizabeth Darell for 90 years. (fn. 466) The freehold
was never again said to belong to the priory
and the land presumably became part of Knighton
manor; but a quitrent apparently paid for it
passed to the dean and canons of Westminster,
successors to the abbot of Westminster to whom
the revenues of the priory had been granted, and
was still paid by the lord of Littlecote manor
in 1789. (fn. 467)

Economic History.

Agriculture. The
bishop of Salisbury's estate of Ramsbury was
assessed at 90 hides in 1084 and 1086. (fn. 468) The
estate almost certainly included all of what
became Ramsbury parish, including Axford and
Baydon, which were later parts of Ramsbury
manor, and Bishopstone, which was not mentioned in Domesday Book and was the bishop's in
the early 13th century. It included five burgages
in Cricklade and almost certainly nothing else. (fn. 469)
The bishop's demesne of 30 hides, on which
there were only 8 ploughteams and 9 serfs, (fn. 470) was
presumably distributed among all four places,
excluding Cricklade. Free tenants, who held a
total of 27 hides, had demesne lands on which
there were 11 ploughteams. The presence on the
bishop's lands of 68 villeins and 43 bordars and
on the free tenants' lands of 31 bordars all with a
total of 35 teams suggest that villeins and bordars
held most of the cultivated land. That, the low
ratio of teams to hides on the bishop's demesne,
and the fact that later most of the bishop's
demesne land used for husbandry was at Bishopstone and Baydon (fn. 471) indicate that little of the
bishop's land at Ramsbury was cultivated in
1086, and that, even if it was not then imparked,
it was already reserved for sport and to keep
animals for the bishop's household. (fn. 472) At £52 15s.,
compared to £17 5s. for the land held by others,
the bishop's demesne was highly valued. (fn. 473)

Ramsbury was not among the bishop's manors
leased in the late 12th century. (fn. 474) In the early 13th
century, when it may still have included Bishopstone, assized rents totalled £31 12s. 4d. (fn. 475) Bishopstone had been separated from it by the late 13th
century. (fn. 476) Thereafter the composition of the
manor changed little: apart from the parks,
woods, meadows, and pastures surrounding the
bishop's palace at Ramsbury there was a demesne
farm at Baydon and, except between c. 1160 and
c. 1260, another at Membury. (fn. 477) Extensive
demesne lands at Axford and Hilldrop may have
been granted freely by a bishop before the late
12th century. (fn. 478) From the later Middle Ages there
were free and customary tenants in all the tithings, more freeholders in Eastridge where the
manors of Littlecote, Thrup, and Eastridge were
located, and more customary tenants in Baydon,
Axford, and Whittonditch. (fn. 479) The demesne lands
of Baydon were leased for a short period c. 1260 (fn. 480)
but in the 14th century those at both Baydon and
Membury were kept in hand. (fn. 481) In 1331 there
were, including cottagers, some 100 customary
tenants. Many labour services from them, and
even some from some freeholders, were required
and, in addition to normal agricultural labour,
when the bishop left Ramsbury the customary
tenants had to cart his victuals to Potterne,
Sonning (Berks.), or Salisbury. By then, however, labour services from a few holdings had
been commuted for higher rents. (fn. 482) By 1396 the
demesne land at Membury had been leased and
labour services from 11½ yardlands in Axford,
14½ in Whittonditch, 5 in Preston, 6 in Ford, and
6 yardlands and various smaller holdings in
Ramsbury had been commuted. (fn. 483) Assized rents
were £36 5s. 10d. in 1404. By then more demesne
land had been leased and a moderately sized farm
at Baydon was then the bishop's only directly
exploited agricultural land. Many labour services
from holdings at Baydon had been commuted but
1,100 could be called upon from the tenants of
18½ yardlands and 8 'cotsetlands' there. (fn. 484) That
farm was afterwards leased and in the 16th
century the bishops' income from the manor
outside the parks was nearly all from rents. In
1535 a total of £67 11s. 11d. was paid: (fn. 485) the
customary tenants of Ramsbury paid £13 4s. 10d.,
of Axford £8 8s. 11½d., Whittonditch £4 4s. 8d.,
Marridge Hill £2 0s. 4d., Park Town £2 18s.,
and Baydon some £9. (fn. 486) About 1556 some 29
yardlands were held by copy in Baydon, 17 in
Whittonditch, 6 in Eastridge, 22 in Axford, and
4 in Ramsbury: Baydon and Membury remained
the principal demesne farms held on leases. (fn. 487)
The tenures and distribution of the lands of the
manor were little changed until holdings in all
parts of the parish were sold between 1677 and
1681. (fn. 488) After 1681 tenants remained in all parts
and a century later were a mixture of copyholders
and lessees. (fn. 489)

Ramsbury manor and Ramsbury prebend
were the only estates to extend throughout the
parish, within which distinct agrarian economies
evolved in several places. Those of Axford and
Baydon are discussed below with other aspects of
the histories of those places. The remainder of
the parish was divided roughly by the Kennet,
south of which there was for long little agriculture. There the steep side of the valley, close to
the river and unbroken by a tributary valley, and
the high flat land south of it were predominantly
woodland and grassland imparked by the lords of
Ramsbury and Littlecote manors and valued
chiefly for sport. Several farms have been established there but only Elmdown shared in the
common husbandry practised north of the
Kennet. (fn. 490) The relief north of the Kennet is
broken but few of the slopes between the ridges
and dry valleys are steep enough to prevent
ploughing, and arable farming predominated.
In the 16th century cultivation there was in both
open fields and inclosures. (fn. 491) In the Middle Ages
there were evidently groups of open fields at
Ramsbury, Park Town, Whittonditch, Preston,
Eastridge or Marridge Hill, and Membury. They
presumably developed in the early Middle Ages
for use by those with holdings based at those
places. (fn. 492) Inclosed land was principally at Littlecote, Thrup, Knighton, Hilldrop, and, later,
Membury. The dates and circumstances of
the inclosures seem to have been different. (fn. 493)
Although it seems likely that they had been
earlier, in the 16th century the groups of open
fields were not self contained. As parts of each
were attached to holdings based elsewhere in the
parish, and as farms in most parts of the parish,
becoming fewer and larger, encompassed land in
several places, individual groups of fields were
losing their identities. (fn. 494) Many open fields were
still named after, and holdings located by,
the places, but, even before general inclosure
in 1778, separate agrarian economies in the
main part of the parish could no longer be
distinguished. (fn. 495)

The open fields of Ramsbury itself were in an
arc north of the village, bounded on the west by
Park Town, north by the inclosed lands of
Hilldrop manor and Love's farm, and north-east
and east by the fields of Whittonditch. (fn. 496) North,
South, West, and Henley fields were mentioned
in the Middle Ages. (fn. 497) There was also an East field
in 1567 but neither South nor East field then
seems to have been large. (fn. 498) North had been
renamed Middle field by the late 17th century. (fn. 499)
In 1778 the fields, West, 50 a. west of Hilldrop
Lane, Middle, 69 a. east of Love's Lane, East, 60
a. south of Crowood Lane, and two smaller fields,
Knowledge between West and Middle and
Lower east of East, were inclosed under an Act of
1777. (fn. 500) The meadows and pastures beside the
Kennet south of High Street and Scholard's
Lane and bounded on the south by Royal ditch at
the bottom of Spring Hill seem to have been part
of the demesne of Ramsbury manor in the
Middle Ages. (fn. 501) Oad marsh, meadow south of
High Street, was floated c. 1642. (fn. 502) Wood marsh,
demesne land leased to the tenants of Ramsbury
manor in 1404 or earlier, was presumably what
was later called Great marsh east of Oad marsh. (fn. 503)
The yearly rent of 6s. 8d. was respited when 7 a.
of the tenants' land was imparked, possibly in the
late 15th century. (fn. 504) The tenants used the marsh
in common and the right to feed a cow there was
attached to cottages in the village. (fn. 505) In the later
18th century the leazetellers marked every beast
on it at 1d. a head. (fn. 506) Although Wood marsh was
reckoned no more than 20 a. in 1567, when it was
inclosed in 1778 Great marsh was 44 a. On
the northern slopes of Spring Hill south of Great
marsh Elm down, 20 a., was a common cattle
pasture in summer but at other times was used
exclusively by the occupant of Elmdown farm. (fn. 507)
Sheep seem to have been generously stinted on
the open fields (fn. 508) but there was no upland sheep
pasture at Ramsbury. Land there has been
attached to large farms at Whittonditch, Park
Town, and Hilldrop (fn. 509) but there has apparently
never been a large farm at Ramsbury. In the
Middle Ages customary holdings were small and
they seem to have remained so even when there
were only four of ½ yardland or more in 1567. (fn. 510)
Many smallholdings were worked from buildings in the village, but the largest farm to have
developed seems to have been Daniel Boreman's,
c. 85 a. at inclosure. Because there were many
smallholdings the arable and meadow land
nearest Ramsbury continued to be worked in
small parcels after inclosure. (fn. 511)

References to Park field and Bishop's field
possibly suggest open fields in Park Town tithing,
but if such existed they were eliminated early by
the expansion of the bishop's parks. (fn. 512) The right
of the tenant of the lord's mill in Park Town to
feed cattle and sheep in a marsh and in Blake's
Lane c. 1600 may be a vestige of common
pasture. (fn. 513) Nearly all the land of the tithing
outside the parks was in a leasehold of Ramsbury
manor, in Ambrose, formerly Blake's, farm,
and in Hales Court farm, so called in 1584, the
demesne of Ramsbury Trenchard manor. (fn. 514) In
1416 that manor included 3 carucates, most
presumably in Park Town, and 24 messuages,
some let for lives and most of them presumably
smallholdings in Ramsbury. (fn. 515) The land in Park
Town was reckoned as 7 yardlands in 1567. (fn. 516) In
1632 Hales Court farm measured 185 a. including
60 a. of meadow and pasture, 42 a. of woodland,
and 83 a. of arable of which 11 a. were in the
common fields of Ramsbury. (fn. 517) The farm buildings were near the Kennet between Ramsbury
and Ramsbury Manor on land flooded or imparked c. 1775 when they were demolished. (fn. 518) In
1567 the lands of Ramsbury manor held by lease
amounted to c. 30 a. and Blake's farm to c. 70 a.
including 30 a. of woodland, presumably Blake's
Copse. (fn. 519)

Meadow land at Whittonditch was presumably
beside the stream flowing from Aldbourne to
Knighton. Open fields were on both sides of the
stream. (fn. 520) In the Middle Ages Whittonditch lands
were used by the lord of Ramsbury manor in
demesne, by his customary tenants at Whittonditch and later by others elsewhere, and by
possibly three free tenants. (fn. 521) In the 14th century
apparently all the demesne was pasture, sold
yearly or leased, or woodland. By the 16th
century the pasture, Witcha down, 30 a., had
been appended to a copyhold. (fn. 522) There were ten
or more customary tenants holding 14½ or more
yardlands in 1396: in the mid 16th century they
were fewer and their holdings were larger and
extended into other parts of the parish. Thomas
Seymour then held 60 a., John Goddard 18 a.,
and the lord of Ramsbury Trenchard manor 1½
yardland in Whittonditch tithing, but where
their lands lay is obscure. No more than two or
three copyholds then seem to have been based
there: the largest, 154 a. including Witcha down,
was possibly the later Whittonditch farm. Those
and copyholds based elsewhere in the parish
included some 215 a. of arable at Whittonditch. (fn. 523)
In the late 17th century land was apparently
being worked as Whittonditch, Crowood, and
Witcha farms. (fn. 524) Whittonditch farm measured
209 a. in 1737. (fn. 525) In the mid 18th century all three
farms belonged to Henry Read who in 1755 was
accused of removing merestones and of ploughing linches in the open fields. (fn. 526) In 1778 those
fields were called Lower and Middle: they were
possibly of roughly equal size and separated by
the Aldbourne-Hungerford road. Of some 250 a.
at Whittonditch inclosed in that year more than
200 a. were in Whittonditch and Witcha farms
and imparked around Crowood House; 20 a.
were in Minden, later Upper Whittonditch,
farm; and land at Upper Whittonditch was in
Preston farm. (fn. 527)

In 1396 four or more customary tenants held 5
yardlands or more at Preston. (fn. 528) In the later
Middle Ages copyholds at Preston and Ford may
have been merged: in the mid 16th century, when
7 yardlands said to be at Preston were held by
four tenants, some of whom held land elsewhere
in the parish, and when those tenants' lands were
in Preston, Ford, and other fields, the two were
not distinguished. (fn. 529) As a result there was uncertainty about what was Preston land and what was
Ford land until the inclosure commissioners
resolved it in 1778. (fn. 530) In the 16th century a
common pasture, 16 a., on Hodd's Hill was for
the ewes of the Preston copyholders. (fn. 531) There
may have been no more than two farms based at
Preston in the 16th century, and in the late
18th century there were only two. At inclosure
the fields of Preston were apparently North field,
c. 230 a. extending north-west of Marridge Hill
and Hodd's Hill, and Little field, c. 75 a. nearer
Preston. Some 200 a. were allotted in respect of
farms based elsewhere. Preston farm was possibly
of more than 100 a. including its land at Whittonditch and Marridge Hill and on Hodd's Hill. The
second farm was smaller. (fn. 532)

There was demesne, freehold, and customary
land of Ramsbury manor at Marridge Hill. (fn. 533) In
the 16th century there were open fields, presumably on the flat land at the summit of the hill, and
Marridge heath, 100 a., was a common pasture
for sheep and cattle. (fn. 534) Before 1462, however, 40
a. of the demesne land, called Broad Breaches,
had been inclosed and attached to a customary
holding. (fn. 535) In the mid 16th century five copyholders held a total of 7½ yardlands and other land
at Marridge Hill: 3½ of 4 freely held yardlands
were part of Ramsbury Trenchard manor. Most
of the copyholders also held land in Preston and
elsewhere and it seems unlikely that more than
three or four farms were based at Marridge Hill.
The largest apparently included 120 a. of inclosed
lands, among them Broad Breaches then said to
be 80 a. (fn. 536) Marridge heath was inclosed in the 17th
century but farmers in Marridge Hill, Preston,
and Whittonditch cultivated Upper Marridge
field, c. 100 a., in common until inclosure in
1778. (fn. 537) Three farms then seem to have been
based at Marridge Hill. Most of Upper Marridge
field and Broad Breaches made up Thomas
Mildenhall's farm based at buildings south-east
of the earlier Marridge Hill House. Other land,
including much of the North field of Preston, was
worked from Marridge Hill Farm and from
buildings on the site of the later Marridge Hill
House (Baydon Manor). (fn. 538)

In the Middle Ages there may have been
common husbandry at Eastridge. References in
1567 to arable land in an apparently open field at
Eastridge called Minden, possibly near what
became Minden Farm, and to a common sheep
pasture called Eastridge heath, 40 a., are evidence
of it. (fn. 539) Land at Eastridge was held of Ramsbury
manor but by the 16th century had apparently
been attached to a copyhold based at Ramsbury. (fn. 540) Eastridge manor, 6 yardlands, then consisted of two farms. (fn. 541) The larger presumably
included most of the land of Eastridge and may
have been mainly several. In the late 18th century
it was based at Eastridge Farm on the summit of
the down. Minden farm then included more land
at Whittonditch than at Eastridge. Other land
was apparently worked in farms based at Ramsbury and Marridge Hill. (fn. 542)

At Knighton in the 16th century there were
vestiges of common husbandry similar to those at
Eastridge. A copyholder of Ramsbury manor
held land in Knighton field, took hay from a common meadow, possibly that near Deep bridge
mentioned in 1462, and had rights to feed beasts
on Jacket marsh, 8 a., and Knighton marsh. (fn. 543) By
then, however, most other estates in Knighton
had apparently been absorbed by Knighton farm.
At Thrup, however, even in the Middle Ages
there seems to have been only a single estate, the
lands of which were bounded by the Kennet and
by those of Knighton and Chilton Foliat. (fn. 544) There
is no evidence that any of Thrup manor, reckoned
as 3 carucates in 1331, (fn. 545) was held customarily,
and none of common husbandry. As parts of the
Littlecote estate the lands of Knighton and
Thrup may have been linked in the late 15th
century, (fn. 546) but only from the mid 16th is it clear
that Knighton farm encompassed Thrup. For a
fine of £50 paid in 1545 the farm, including
Thrup, was leased for 20 marks a year from
1550. (fn. 547) By 1712 a new Thrup farm had been
created, possibly with a farmstead on the downs, (fn. 548)
but it may not often have been leased separately. (fn. 549)
In 1773 the buildings of Knighton farm were
on their present site beside the AldbourneHungerford road. (fn. 550)

In the Middle Ages there were open fields at
Membury called East and South, possibly both
south of the hamlet, and later evidence refers
to a pasture which may previously have been
common. (fn. 551) Those lands were presumably shared
by the lord of Membury manor as demesne, by
his customary tenants, and by the two freeholders with land there. The bishops of Salisbury
may have exploited the demesne directly in the
early 14th century. In 1330 three poor tenants of
Membury were mentioned and it is unlikely
that they or others held much land customarily. (fn. 552)
John of Eastbury's estate was reckoned as 1
carucate in 1374: (fn. 553) some land in Membury was
part of Pig's Court estate in Baydon, but how
much is obscure. (fn. 554) By 1396 the demesne, Membury farm, had been leased. (fn. 555) The farm presumably absorbed Eastbury's and the customary
tenants' lands, and in the 16th century all Membury land was inclosed. About 1556 Membury
farm included 114 a. of arable, 9 a. of meadow, 98
a. of pasture, and Membury heath, 30 a., which
was divided by ditches from Eastridge common
pasture. The farmer also had pasture for 240
sheep and 28 beasts on Eastridge heath. (fn. 556) For
much of the 16th century and in the early 17th
century members of the Ballard family were
lessees. The rent in 1567 was £4 13s. 4d. (fn. 557) In 1678
the farm included land on Membury fort which
had been wooded and was then arable, almost
certainly that encircled by the woodland still
covering the banks and ditches called Membury
walls. (fn. 558) The farm, 275 a. in 1721 when it included
land in Baydon, was held by members of the
Bacon family from before 1721 until c. 1803. (fn. 559)

There is no evidence of open field or common
pasture at Hilldrop, nor of any other farm there
but Hilldrop. The fact that the land, mainly
north-west of Hilldrop, (fn. 560) was on the downs and
near the bishop of Salisbury's palace at Ramsbury suggests that the inclosed farm originated
in a grant of episcopal demesne pasture over
which any common right had previously been
extinguished. (fn. 561) In the Middle Ages the farm may
not have been leased. (fn. 562) In the 16th century its
extent was estimated at 400 a. and in the late 18th
century, when members of the Rawlins family
were tenants, was over 500 a. (fn. 563) Love's farm
between Hilldrop and Ramsbury was possibly
reckoned as 1 carucate in 1462 and in the early
16th century may have been c. 100 a. (fn. 564) It may
then and later have been worked with Hilldrop
farm but in the late 18th century was separate. (fn. 565)

After the mid 1780s there is no evidence of a
farm of more than 50 a. with buildings in
Ramsbury village, nor of much copyhold land of
Ramsbury manor. The land north of the village
between Hilldrop and Whittonditch, which after
inclosure in 1778 remained in small pieces with
various owners, was gradually absorbed by the
larger farms. (fn. 566) After inclosure there were in
Ramsbury north of the Kennet, excluding Axford,
between fifteen and twenty farms of more, most
much more, than 50 a. In the west Ramsbury
Manor farm, encompassing Hales Court farm
and based at new buildings, was of 355 a.
including 253 a. of arable in 1839, 329 a. in 1880.
Bolstridge was a mainly arable farm of 67 a. in
1839, 144 a. in 1880, part of Ramsbury manor
with buildings south-east of Hilldrop. In 1839
Hilldrop farm measured 530 a. including 370 a.
of arable, and Love's was a wholly arable farm of
50 a. with buildings north-east of Hilldrop. In
the centre in 1839 were Whittonditch farm, 248
a. worked from buildings beside the AldbourneHungerford road, Witcha farm, 236 a. worked
from buildings on the west side of the Whittonditch-Membury lane, William Atherton's farm
of 100 a. with buildings at Upper Whittonditch,
220 a. of agricultural land south and west of
Crowood House, and Minden, later Upper
Whittonditch, farm, 165 a. worked from buildings on the east side of the WhittonditchMembury lane. Those farms included a total 840
a. of arable. The land around Crowood House
was presumably worked from Crowood Farm
from the mid 19th century. In the north in 1839
Marridge Hill was a compact farm of 144 a.
north-west of its buildings and including Large's
barn, and the farm based at the later Marridge
Hill House measured 325 a.; the third farm at
Marridge Hill included 122 a. In Preston farm,
84 a., were 65 a. of arable, and Waldron's farm at
Preston, 102 a., included 84 a. of arable. Membury was then a compact farm of 300 a. In the east
Knighton and Thrup farms were being leased
together in 1806 and in 1839 were a single farm of
570 a. including 458 a. of arable and 74 a. of
permanent grass. Eastridge farm then measured
377 a. of which 268 a. were arable. (fn. 567)

The concentration on arable farming evident
in that whole area in the earlier 19th century has
persisted, with little evidence of dairy farming at
any time. In the mid 20th century most of
the land of Ramsbury manor in the west was
brought in hand and worked from Axford: in
1981 only Ramsbury Manor farm, 85 a., was held
by lease. (fn. 568) The imparked land, which was leased
for grazing in the 19th century and earlier 20th, (fn. 569)
was not used for agriculture in 1981. Hilldrop
was then a corn and sheep farm of over 600 a.
including land in Aldbourne: Love's remained a
separate small farm. (fn. 570) Most of the land of the
Crowood estate in the centre had been brought in
hand by the 1940s when there was mixed farming
on it. (fn. 571) In 1981, including its land in Baydon and
Aldbourne, the Crowood estate of over 1,000 a.
was in hand and worked from Crowood Farm
and buildings at Upper Whittonditch where
there was a dairy. (fn. 572) Witcha farm measured 335 a.
in 1949 including much of the land which had
been in the third farm at Marridge Hill in 1839,
the land north-west of the WhittonditchMembury lane formerly in Upper Whittonditch
farm, and land formerly in Whittonditch farm.
In 1981 its halves, Witcha and Woodlands, were
pasture farms respectively for cows and sheep. (fn. 573)
Whittonditch was then a mixed farm with c. 200
a. at Whittonditch and Preston and additional
land in Aldbourne. (fn. 574) As part of the Baydon
Manor estate in the north the two farms at
Preston were merged before 1947 into a farm of
293 a., including 10 a. in Aldbourne, of which
only 30 a. were grass. (fn. 575) In 1981 over 200 a. were
part of Maj. H. O. Stibbard's farm based at
Marridge Hill. (fn. 576) The two larger farms at Marridge
Hill were merged before 1947 as Marridge Hill
farm, then 511 a. including land in Baydon and
buildings at Marridge Hill Farm. (fn. 577) In 1981 Maj.
Stibbard's was an arable and pasture farm of over
600 a. with land in Baydon and large buildings,
including some for cattle rearing, north of
Baydon Manor, and was in hand. Other large
buildings at Marridge Hill were for poultry
rearing. Those at Marridge Hill Farm were not
used for agriculture. (fn. 578) In 1947 Membury farm
measured 363 a. including 54 a. which were part
of Membury airfield and 11 a. in Lambourn: (fn. 579)
with more land in Lambourn and Ramsbury it
measured 561 a. in 1981 when it was worked
under contract from Hilldrop Farm. (fn. 580) In the
earlier 20th century A. J. Hosier used new
techniques of dairy farming at Knighton farm, of
which he was tenant. (fn. 581) In the later 20th century
Eastridge farm, the land of Upper Whittonditch
farm south-east of the Whittonditch-Membury
lane, Thrup farm, until 1979, and Knighton farm
were in hand as parts of Littlecote estate and were
devoted solely to arable farming. Their buildings
were given up by the estate and only those at
Eastridge, where cattle were reared, were in use
in 1981. The land of Thrup was then worked
from Lambourn. (fn. 582)

The large area which Domesday Book suggests
was neither tenanted nor ploughed in the late
11th century (fn. 583) was around the bishop of Salisbury's palace on the Kennet between Ramsbury
and Axford. (fn. 584) The part of it south of the river was
taken into Savernake forest, but in 1228 was
disafforested. (fn. 585) In 1246 it was acknowledged to be
a chase of the bishop. (fn. 586) In 1281 the bishop
maintained his right to a chase but successfully
denied allegations that he also claimed free
warren without licence and obstructed men
hunting hares and other beasts of the warren. (fn. 587)
Free warren was granted in 1294. (fn. 588) The lands,
which had been imparked by the 14th century,
had thrice to be defended by bishops against their
neighbours: in 1316 hedges and fences were
broken and animals killed and removed by Henry
Esturmy, warden of Savernake forest; (fn. 589) in 1347
Hildebrand of London, lord of Axford manor,
forcibly entered the park and took fish from the
bishop's waters, deer from the park, and hares,
rabbits, pheasants, and partridges from the
warren; (fn. 590) and in 1541 Sir Edward Darell, lord of
Littlecote manor, hunted without licence. (fn. 591) The
first two of those incursions were possibly
intended as challenges to the bishops' rights.

From the 14th century the imparked land was
divided between north and south parks. (fn. 592) In 1458
Bishop Beauchamp acquired by exchange 154 a.,
mostly from Henry Hall from what was later
called Hales Court farm, and was licensed by the
king to enlarge his parks by inclosing 400 a.
including 100 a. of woodland. (fn. 593) It seems likely
that the exchanged land was inclosed to extend
the north park: an embankment extending round
Old Park Wood north of the Kennet and the site
of the Plantation south of the Kennet may have
marked its new boundaries, and in places is still
visible. (fn. 594) In the 16th and 17th centuries that park
was called the little or old park, the south park
was called the great, new, or high park. (fn. 595) About
1545 the little park measured 190 a., including
pastures in the north called the old fields, presumably the land inclosed c. 1458. (fn. 596) The great
park, described by Leland as a 'right fair and
large park hanging on the cliff of a high hill well
wooded over the Kennet', (fn. 597) contained 600 a. of
pasture, 300 a. of woodland, and a rabbit warren.
Near his palace the bishop had some 50 a. of
meadow land, the right to exclusive fishing in the
Kennet, and four well stocked fishponds. Trees
in the great park were valued at 2,500 marks,
those in the little park at 200 marks. There were
said to be 400 deer in the great park. (fn. 598) Bishops
had appointed one man as keeper of the manor of
Ramsbury and of its buildings, gardens, and
orchards (for 40s. a year), keeper of the warren or
chase and keeper of the woods and chief parkkeeper (4d. a day), overseer of swans (10s. a year),
and keeper of the waters and river bank (1d. a
day): a pension of £40 a year paid to Sir Edward
Baynton for surrendering the offices in 1541
possibly reflects their true value. (fn. 599) Other 16thcentury estimates of the area of the parks and of
the woodland, pasture, and meadow within them
vary, but the distinction between the great and
little parks and the pattern of land use apparently
continued throughout the century. (fn. 600)

Sales of wood and payments for agistment in
1330 show that fiscal profits could sometimes be
taken from the parks: (fn. 601) in 1462 rabbits and
meadow land were at farm. (fn. 602) The parks, however, may have been created and been used
primarily for the bishop's sport, larder, and
horses. In the 17th century such use declined
when the owners, the earls of Pembroke, were
usually absent, and leasing became more the rule.
The woods were held by lease in 1633 (fn. 603) and in the
later 17th century Ramsbury manor house was
leased. (fn. 604) Herbert Saladin held the old park, apart
from its woods and the old fields, and 57 a. of
meadow in 1675. (fn. 605) Parts of the high park had
been leased for agriculture before 1670 when, of
265 a. so leased, some 200 a. were tilled. (fn. 606) In 1676
the boundaries of the parks, still inclosing c.
1,100 a., apparently followed the southernmost
part of the parish boundary, bisected Hens
Wood, crossed the Kennet near Axford Farm,
extended northwards round Old Field Copse,
and crossed the Kennet again east of the manor
house. (fn. 607) Nearly 300 a. of the high park were sold
between 1677 and 1681. (fn. 608) In 1681 the remainder,
545 a. impaled and divided into three by hedges
and rails, was leased with 33 a. of water meadow
for £446 a year. (fn. 609) Some of the old park was also
sold in 1679: the remainder was presumably kept
in hand by the Joneses to surround the new
Ramsbury Manor. The sold portion may have
been imparked again in the 1720s. (fn. 610)

In the later 18th century the non-agricultural
part of the high park was again in hand and c.
1775 the old park was extended eastwards. (fn. 611) Both
parks seem to have been used primarily for sport
and the long pasture called Horse Race between
the artificial lake and the new Plantation may
have had the use implied by its name. (fn. 612) The
agricultural land was taken from the south and
east parts of the high park and was the basis of
Park and Park Town farms. (fn. 613) By 1839 most of the
parkland was used for agriculture. Ramsbury
Manor had been leased with only 93 a.: much of
the woodland had also been leased. (fn. 614) Park was
then, as in 1880, a compact farm of 807 a.,
including in 1839 over 500 a. of arable and
extending across the flat upland from Hens
Wood to Spring Hill. (fn. 615) Park Town farm, c. 150 a.
in 1752, was in 1839 a rectangular farm of 260 a.,
of which 240 a. were arable, extending from the
Kennet to Spring Hill, with its buildings, now
Harbrook Farm, beside the river in its northwest corner. (fn. 616) In 1839 there was also an arable
farm of 96 a. with buildings near the parish
boundary south of Spring Hill. (fn. 617) Those farms
survived approximately thus until c. 400 a. were
taken for Ramsbury airfield c. 1939. (fn. 618) Park farm
was reduced to 232 a., mostly south and west of
its buildings: in 1981 it was an arable and dairy
farm. (fn. 619) The large buildings housing pigs at
Darrell's Farm were part of it. (fn. 620) The lowland
part of Park Town farm and the steep northern
slopes of Spring Hill were pasture in 1981. After
the airfield was returned to agriculture after 1955
most of it was ploughed. West of the RamsburyFroxfield lane, in 1981 Littlecote estate included
extensive buildings at Bridge Farm and c. 125 a.
of arable. (fn. 621) Since the Second World War there
has been commercial forestry in Hens Wood. (fn. 622)
By 1981 the parkland around Ramsbury Manor
had been increased to c. 350 a. (fn. 623)

It seems likely that the Darells, lords of
Littlecote manor, had a park at Littlecote long
before Henry VIII had 'goodly pastimes and
continual hunting' there in 1520. (fn. 624) There is also
evidence of sheep-and-corn husbandry on the
demesne in the 16th century: in 1549 over 700
sheep were kept and in 1589 wheat was sold for
£52 and barley for £25. (fn. 625) Littlecote House is
beside the parish boundary, its owners have held
much land in Chilton Foliat and elsewhere, (fn. 626) and
it is not certain whether the greater parts of the
park and agricultural land were in Ramsbury or
Chilton Foliat. Later evidence suggests that
more than half of each was in Ramsbury. (fn. 627)

By the late 17th century the demesne had been
leased as Littlecote, later Littlecote Park, farm,
apparently 364 a. in 1699. (fn. 628) The farm sometimes
included the water meadows, over 50 a., south of
the Kennet between Knighton and Littlecote. (fn. 629)
In the 1830s it consisted only of land in the
triangle formed by the south-east corner of the
parish, 327 a. including 293 a. of arable, and of c.
250 a. in Chilton Foliat. Its buildings were on
the north side of the east-west road which ran
south of Littlecote House and was otherwise its
northern boundary. (fn. 630) In the mid 19th century
those buildings were replaced by a new farmstead
in the south part of the triangle. (fn. 631) In 1893 the
farm, 471 a. including 305 a. in Ramsbury, was
still primarily arable, but the tenant, S. W.
Farmer, was a leading dairy farmer who also held
65 a. of Littlecote park in Ramsbury. (fn. 632)

Sales of wood from the park and from the
woods elsewhere in the parish and in Chilton
Foliat and Hungerford were a source of much
income to the lords of Littlecote manor in the
18th century. (fn. 633) Wood was then also taken to fuel
their brick and lime kilns in Hungerford and,
possibly, near Elmdown Farm. (fn. 634) In the mid 18th
century deer were still regularly hunted in the
park (fn. 635) which in 1775 included c. 200 a. between
the gardens around Littlecote House on the east
and Park Coppice, c. 60 a., on the west. (fn. 636) The
park, 200 a. of woodland in the eastern part of the
parish, and the water meadows were then in
hand, (fn. 637) in 1839 a total of 638 a. in Ramsbury
including 56 a. of meadows, 200 a. of pasture in
the park, and over 300 a. of woodland. (fn. 638)

In the later 20th century Littlecote Park farm
and all the other lands of the Littlecote estate,
over 4,000 a. in Ramsbury, Chilton Foliat,
Hungerford, and elsewhere, have been brought
in hand. In 1981 farming on them was entirely
arable. Fields have been enlarged, hedges
removed, and all farm buildings given up except
airfield buildings at Bridge Farm which have
been extended and in 1981 were used to house
large machinery. Some of the woodland has been
cleared for tillage but the shooting has been
carefully preserved for letting. (fn. 639)

Elmdown farm had been established on the
upland between Ramsbury great park and Littlecote park, presumably by the 13th or 14th
century. (fn. 640) In 1567 it consisted of 30 a. which were
possibly inclosed around the farmstead, Elm
down which was subject to summer pasture
rights of those holding land in Ramsbury, and 10
a. in the fields of Ramsbury with pasture rights in
the great marsh. (fn. 641) As part of Littlecote estate in
the early 18th century the farm was leased
separately. (fn. 642) From the late 18th century Elmdown and Ambrose farms were held together for
long periods. (fn. 643) In 1839, when they were held
separately, each with its farmstead and lands east
of the Ramsbury-Froxfield lane, Elmdown
measured 131 a. including 113 a. of arable,
Ambrose 82 a. including 66 a. of arable. (fn. 644) In the
later 20th century those lands, like other parts
of Littlecote estate, were worked from Bridge
Farm. (fn. 645)

Robert Maisey combined the businesses of
watercress growing and basket making in Ramsbury apparently from the 1890s until the First
World War. (fn. 646) The watercress beds passed to
members of the Wootton family who in the 1930s
had more than 20 employees and sometimes sent
in a week 15,000 lb. of watercress via Hungerford
to London from beds in Ramsbury, Froxfield,
and Shalbourne. (fn. 647) The beds at Ramsbury, 14 a.,
were in the waters of the Kennet near How Mill
and in the tributary valley between Knighton and
Whittonditch. (fn. 648) Cultivation near How Mill
ceased c. 1970, but watercress was still grown in
the beds between Knighton and Whittonditch in
1981. (fn. 649)

Fishing. Several fishing in the Kennet was
apparently the right of the lords of each manor
with land reaching to it. It was claimed as part of
Thrup manor in 1411, (fn. 650) of Ramsbury manor c.
1545, (fn. 651) of Axford manor in 1601, (fn. 652) and of Ramsbury Trenchard manor in 1634. (fn. 653) Fishing rights
were excluded from the sales of much of Ramsbury manor between 1677 and 1681. (fn. 654) The
Kennet at Ramsbury was then already noted for
its trout. (fn. 655) Grayling were introduced c. 1890.
They were later found to be harmful to trout and
were with pike and coarse fish taken from the
river by an electrical fishing machine and other
means in the 1950s. (fn. 656)

Mills. The 80 a. of meadow and 10 mills
paying £6 2s. 6d. on the bishop of Salisbury's
Ramsbury estate in 1086 (fn. 657) are perhaps no more
than might be expected since the estate included,
apart from the Kennet at Ramsbury and Axford,
streams suitable for mills at Bishopstone. In the
Middle Ages the bishops had a demesne mill on
the Kennet near their palace and in the north
park, called Park Mill in the 1290s, (fn. 658) later
Porter's Mill. It was in hand in 1330. (fn. 659) By 1395 it
had been converted to a fulling mill and leased. (fn. 660)
It was still a fulling mill in the 1460s but in the
early 16th century was again a corn mill. (fn. 661) When
the bishop was at Ramsbury the tenant had to
grind for him with no more reward than food and
drink and to allow him half the eels taken in the
waters of the mill. (fn. 662) Henry Powle sold the mill
with feeding rights in Park Town marsh and
Blake's Lane to the tenant Edward Kingston in
1677. (fn. 663) It was bought back by a lord of Ramsbury
manor, apparently between 1705, when a widow
Porter held it, and 1728: in 1728 it was said to
house three grist mills under one roof. (fn. 664) The
lessee of Park farm held it in 1771. (fn. 665) It was
apparently demolished c. 1775 when the artificial
lake was made. (fn. 666)

How Mill, mentioned between 1274 and 1284,
was a corn mill on the Kennet east of Ramsbury
and was held by lease of the bishops of Salisbury
in the later Middle Ages. (fn. 667) It passed with the
manor and in 1559 was taken in hand by the lord
following a dispute arising from a lease by him
and an earlier lease in reversion: (fn. 668) thereafter the
mill was held by copy. (fn. 669) It was not sold between
1677 and 1681 and remained part of the manor. (fn. 670)
Milling apparently stopped there in the mid 19th
century. (fn. 671) The surviving mill house is 18thcentury.

A water mill at Ramsbury, presumably on the
Kennet and possibly that held by William at
the hill in 1331, was part of Love's estate in the
Middle Ages; (fn. 672) Parson's Mill, possibly at Park
Town, belonged to the prebendaries of Ramsbury from c. 1300 or earlier to 1515 or later. (fn. 673)
They were possibly the two mills which were part
of Ramsbury Trenchard manor in 1575. (fn. 674) After
that manor was broken up in the 1630s one of the
mills may have been acquired by John Cooke,
who was a party to a conveyance of a mill in
1636. (fn. 675) That mill was apparently bought by
Richard King, the owner of Hales Court farm,
from Stephen Cooke and others in 1650, and
passed with that farm to Nicholas King in 1669.
It was apparently near Hales Court Farm at Park
Town (fn. 676) and was possibly Parson's Mill or its
successor. It may have been the mill acquired by
Richard Jones, lord of Ramsbury manor, from
Henry Shute in 1711 and called Shute's Mill in
1771. (fn. 677) If so, it seems likely to have been demolished with Porter's Mill. The descent of
Love's Mill is obscure. Its successor may have
been the mill on the Kennet in Mill Lane leased
in 1758 by Sir Michael Ernle, Bt. (d. 1771), and
later called Upper Mill. Ernle's heir was his
brother the Revd. Sir Edward Ernle (d. 1787)
from whom his nephew Sir William Langham
Jones, lord of Ramsbury manor, bought that
mill in 1783. (fn. 678) Milling continued until the earlier
20th century: the machinery remained in the
building until the 1960s. (fn. 679) The surviving mill
house was built in the later 17th century or earlier
18th and extended in the later 18th century or
earlier 19th.

A mill belonging to Edward Jatt in 1752 was
apparently that on the Kennet beside Scholard's
Lane later called Town Mill. (fn. 680) Nathan Atherton
owned it from 1778 or earlier to c. 1821 and
Joseph Atherton from c. 1821 to 1839 or later.
Afterwards it became part of Ramsbury manor. (fn. 681)
There is no evidence that corn was ground there
after the 1890s. (fn. 682) The Old Mill is a large house the
south half of which was built in the 18th century,
the north half in the 19th century.

A mill was part of Thrup manor in 1394. (fn. 683) In
the late 18th century there was possibly a mill on
the Kennet near Littlecote House where Mill
meads were so called in 1775, (fn. 684) but no part of such
a mill survives. (fn. 685) A map of 1773 perhaps mistakenly infers that there was another mill on the
Kennet between Town Mill and How Mill. (fn. 686)

Market and Fairs. The bishop of Salisbury
had a market at Ramsbury in 1219. (fn. 687) In 1227 the
king ordered the sheriff not to prevent it and,
on condition that it harmed no other market,
formally granted a Tuesday market to the
bishop. (fn. 688) By 1229, however, it had been found
detrimental to the market at Marlborough and was
prohibited. (fn. 689) It may nevertheless have continued
until 1240 when the bishop agreed with the king to
give up his weekly market for two yearly threeday fairs at the Invention (3 May) and Exaltation
(14 September) of Holy Cross. (fn. 690) Although it
seems unlikely that the market at Ramsbury was
a serious rival to that at Marlborough in the mid
13th century, (fn. 691) it remained hard to eliminate. In
1275 and 1281 the Crown accused the see of
prejudicing Marlborough market by raising a
new Sunday market at Ramsbury for trade in
merchandise of all kinds. The accusations were
disproved and the bishop claimed that there was
no more than the buying and selling of food and
drink on feast days and Sundays as was permitted
under the agreement of 1240. Such trade and the
two fairs were allowed to continue providing that
no one market day should become fixed. (fn. 692) By
1300 a market at Ramsbury may have been
considered no danger to trade at Marlborough
and in that year the king again granted the bishop
a Tuesday market. (fn. 693) The market was held in
1319 (fn. 694) but nothing is known of it thereafter. The
lack of surviving references to it suggests that it
failed to flourish and that it petered out long
before the 1790s when it was expressly said to
have been discontinued. (fn. 695)

The fairs at the Invention and Exaltation were
held in the 17th and 18th centuries. (fn. 696) In 1830 a
cattle fair was held on 14 May and a hiring fair on
11 October. (fn. 697) Later both fairs were for dealing in
cattle, but after the First World War that in
October was a pleasure fair. The May fair had
ceased by 1939 and the October fair ceased in
the 1950s. (fn. 698)

Trade and Industry. A fulling mill and a
quilling house on the bishop of Salisbury's
demesne at Ramsbury in the 14th and 15th
centuries are evidence of clothmaking. (fn. 699) From
the 17th century Ramsbury had many trades
related to agriculture and typical of a large
village. The leather trade has been the most
prominent. There was a tan house at Ramsbury
in the 1630s, (fn. 700) when inspectors of leather were
appointed at the view of frankpledge, (fn. 701) and there
were tanners, shoemakers, glovers, and collar
makers throughout the 18th century. (fn. 702) In 1780
there were three or more tan yards. (fn. 703) One, on
the south side of High Street, passed from the
Day to the Ashley family, members of which
were tanners and curriers until the 1880s. (fn. 704) The
furriery of Joseph Maslin was possibly linked
with the tanning and glovemaking of the Ock-
wells at Cricklade in the later 19th century. (fn. 705) In
addition to tanners and curriers there were seven
bootmakers and shoemakers and a collar maker at
Ramsbury in 1848. (fn. 706) Bootmaking was slow to die
out and was continued by Hunter & Son in
Oxford Street until 1981. (fn. 707) Malthouses stood in
High Street and Oxford Street in 1778 and
brewing was said to be successful at Ramsbury in
the 1790s: (fn. 708) in 1839 London was the destination
of much of the beer from the brewery south of the
Square. (fn. 709) Malting and brewing ceased in the late
19th century. (fn. 710) In the 1850s S. T. Osmond established a brass and iron foundry at Newtown to
make agricultural implements. There were other
workers in metal in the later 19th century, and in
the 1890s work similar to Osmond's was done at
the Jubilee Royal Foundry. The Newtown
foundry survived until the First World War. (fn. 711)
Other trades at Ramsbury have included candle
making (1655 and 1788), (fn. 712) clockmaking, (fn. 713) soapmaking (1744), (fn. 714) hurdle making (1936), (fn. 715) and
jewellery design and manufacture (1980). (fn. 716) The
firm of N. Turnbull & Co. made printed electrical circuits at premises south of High Street from
c. 1965 to 1981. (fn. 717)

Local Government.

Regalian rights
may have originated in the acquisition of the
lands of Ramsbury hundred by the bishop of
Ramsbury, (fn. 718) and they were held unchallenged by
the bishop of Salisbury as lord of the hundred. (fn. 719)
A grant of general liberties to the bishop by
Henry III in 1227 confirmed them, and may have
inspired the mistaken belief of the jurors of
Selkley hundred in 1255 that they were then
new. (fn. 720) In 1255 the bishop was said to have return
of writs, pleas of vee de naam, and view of
frankpledge: gallows and the assize of bread and
of ale were specified in 1275, tumbrel and pillory
in 1289. (fn. 721) In the later Middle Ages the bishop
held three-weekly hundred courts and exercised
public jurisdiction in biannual courts called
law hundreds. (fn. 722) Men of Bishopstone may have
attended both. In the mid 16th century the
right to hold the three-weekly hundred court,
although still claimed by the lay lords of
Ramsbury manor, may no longer have been
exercised, (fn. 723) and the bishop retained the right to
exercise leet jurisdiction for Bishopstone, which
was not subsequently represented at the Ramsbury law hundreds held by the lords of the
manor. (fn. 724)

The tithings of Ramsbury parish in the Middle
Ages cannot be clearly identified. The two tithings of Ramsbury named in 1289 may have been
the forerunners of Ramsbury or Ramsbury
Town and Park Town tithings. (fn. 725) Eastridge,
Ashridge, in Axford, and Whittonditch were
tithings in the 13th century. (fn. 726) In the 1550s there
were eight tithings, Ramsbury, Park Town,
Eastridge, Whittonditch, Axford, Ashridge,
Littlecote, and Baydon, but only six tithingmen:
the tithings of Littlecote, the home of the Darells
who had long held Axford manor, and Ashridge
shared a tithingman with Axford tithing. (fn. 727)
Those three tithings were merged as Axford
tithing in the 17th century but in the 18th
Littlecote was transferred to Eastridge tithing. (fn. 728)
Ramsbury tithing included Hilldrop, (fn. 729) Whittonditch included Preston and Marridge Hill, Eastridge included Membury, and Baydon included
Ford: (fn. 730) before the 17th century Thrup and
Knighton may have been in Littlecote or Eastridge tithing. Each tithing was required to have
its own instruments of punishment in the late
16th century. There was a constable for Ramsbury village and another, called the hundred
constable, for the remainder of the parish. (fn. 731) In
the 17th century there was a second constable for
Ramsbury village: a weigher of bread and taster
of ale and an inspector and sealer of leather were
appointed, officers later duplicated. (fn. 732) A 'constable of Baydon' named in 1703 was the Baydon
tithingman, (fn. 733) but his activities presumably
superseded those of the hundred constable in
Baydon.

In the later 16th century the law hundred
proceeded on the presentments of the six
tithingmen, affirmed and added to by a jury
theoretically of 12 but actually of 15–17. Offences
included those of brewers, bakers, tapsters, and
butchers in Ramsbury and of millers, assaults,
poaching, and harbouring rogues and vagabonds. (fn. 734) In the 17th century tipplers, tapsters,
and nuisances caused by muckheaps were
presented under leet jurisdiction in courts called
views of frankpledge, (fn. 735) but in the 18th century
the appointment and listing of the officers was
the only recorded business at the biannual view. (fn. 736)

In the 14th century the bishop of Salisbury
held courts, in addition to the hundred courts,
presumably to deal for Ramsbury manor with
matters normally connected with customary
tenure. Four a year were held in the 15th
century. (fn. 737) The business of the courts was
enrolled with that of the law hundreds in the later
16th century, under the heading of courts of the
manor held on the same day as the views in the
17th century, and under the heading of courts
baron in the 18th century. It was mainly the
recording of presentments by the homage, orders
intended to promote good husbandry, deaths of
tenants, and transfers of copyholds. The condition of hedges seems to have caused concern in
the later 16th century when orders were also
made to ring pigs and to exclude horses and
cattle from sown fields. In the 17th century
bylaws promulgated at the courts regulated
common husbandry at Ramsbury, Axford, and
Baydon. (fn. 738) Each part of the parish in which there
was common husbandry was called a homage but
was not represented at the court by a separate
jury. (fn. 739) In the 18th century, however, orders
governing husbandry in Baydon, where hitching
was closely controlled, were distinguished in the
records from those for the remainder of the
parish, where the ploughing of linches was an
issue. The leazetellers for Ramsbury were
appointed at the courts. (fn. 740)

Prebendaries of Ramsbury apparently held
courts for their tenants in Ramsbury in the mid
14th century. (fn. 741) Courts to deal with the copyhold
business of Trenchard manor were held in the
late 16th century and early 17th. (fn. 742)

Expenditure on the poor in Ramsbury parish,
excluding Baydon, rose from £807 in 1775–6 to
£1,321 in 1802–3 and exceeded £3,000 in
1812–13 and 1818. The parish had a workhouse
but in 1802–3, when 237 adults were permanently
relieved, four fifths of relief was outdoor. There
were then 36 men and women in the workhouse, a
number which had been halved by 1813. (fn. 743) From
1832 to 1835, when the parish joined Hungerford
poor-law union, an annual average of £2,100
was spent on the poor. (fn. 744)

Church.

Parts of two cross shafts and three
tomb slabs, all of stone carved in the late 9th
century, were found beneath Ramsbury church
in 1891. (fn. 745) They suggest that before 900 there was
a large and architecturally elaborate church at
Ramsbury, and the creation of a bishopric of
Ramsbury in the early 10th century supports the
suggestion. There were bishops of Ramsbury
until 1058 when the see, which comprised Wiltshire and, from the mid 10th century, Berkshire,
was united with that of Sherborne (Dors.). The
united see was transferred to Salisbury between
1075 and 1078. Although the bishops of Ramsbury were so called only in charters, and although
they had a seat at Sonning and possibly another at
Wilton, it seems likely that the setting up of a see
at Ramsbury, where the bishops had a notable
church and an estate of 90 hides, was more than
nominal, and that the church was served by a
small cathedral establishment. In the 1050s
Bishop Herman complained that there was no
adequate community of clerks, but in 1086 there
were priests at Ramsbury who may have been a
vestige of such a community. (fn. 746) Ramsbury church
passed to the canons of Salisbury, possibly as
heirs to those priests or as a gift of a bishop, and
was among the chapter's endowments specified
in its foundation charter of 1091. (fn. 747) The chapter
had used the church's revenues to establish
the prebends of Ramsbury and Axford by the
mid 12th century. Axford prebend was then held
by the succentor. (fn. 748) The prebends were replaced
by the two prebends of Gillingham in 1545. (fn. 749) By
1294 a vicarage had been ordained. (fn. 750)

In 1086 the church presumably served all the
places in Ramsbury hundred and possibly others.
Bishopstone was later separated and Ramsbury
parish and manor became conterminous. (fn. 751) The
parish was within the peculiar jurisdiction of the
deans of Salisbury until 1846. (fn. 752) It included
Baydon where a dependent church had been built
by the early 12th century. (fn. 753) In the Middle Ages
there were dependent chapels at Membury and
Axford, neither of which survived the 15th
century. There were also private chapels at the
bishop's palace, Axford, and Littlecote. (fn. 754)
Baydon became independent of Ramsbury in the
1790s. Another dependent church was built at
Axford in 1856. (fn. 755) In 1973 the vicarage was united
with the united benefice of Aldbourne and
Baydon to create the benefice of Whitton: a team
ministry, led by a rector living in Ramsbury,
was established. A new benefice of Whitton was
created in 1976 by the addition of the rectory of
Chilton Foliat and the vicarage of Froxfield to
the old. (fn. 756)

The advowson of the vicarage belonged to
the prebendaries of Ramsbury and until the
Reformation every known vicar was presented
by a prebendary. (fn. 757) In 1545 the advowson was
granted with Ramsbury manor and the endowments of Ramsbury and Axford prebends to
Edward Seymour, earl of Hertford, who
apparently retained it when in 1547 those endowments were given to the Crown. (fn. 758) Seymour, then
duke of Somerset, presented in 1548. When
he was attainted in 1552 (fn. 759) the advowson presumably passed to the Crown which thereafter
presented. (fn. 760) The advowson was bought from
the Crown in 1865 by Angela Burdett-Coutts
(created Baroness Burdett-Coutts in 1871, d.
1906), (fn. 761) and passed to her widower William
Burdett-Coutts-Bartlett-Coutts (d. 1921) whose
executors transferred it to Sir Francis Burdett in
1922. (fn. 762) It descended to Burdett's stepdaughter
Lady (Marjorie) Burdett-Fisher who in 1981 was
a member of the board of patronage constituted
to present the rector of the Whitton team
ministry. (fn. 763)

Although the prebendaries Thomas of Bridport, William de St. John, and Simon de Montagu augmented it in 1294, c. 1323, and in 1333
respectively, the vicarage remained poor, worth
£9 13s. in 1535. (fn. 764) The living was augmented by
the state in 1658 and 1659. (fn. 765) The vicar's income,
£115 10s. in 1756 and £219 c. 1830, (fn. 766) remained
low, but, despite the large parish, no record of a
complaint by a vicar has been found. The living
was augmented by the proceeds from the sale of
the advowson in 1865. (fn. 767)

In 1294 the vicar was given all corn tithes from
the prebendary's demesne. (fn. 768) After the augmentation of c. 1323 he was entitled to various
small tithes paid in kind and to those tithes paid
in cash arising from calves, foals, and lambs and
from hay made in Axford: oblations at the
Invention and Exaltation remained the
prebendary's but those on the Sunday after the
Exaltation were the vicar's. (fn. 769) In 1333 oblations at
both feasts and more small tithes were given to
the vicar. (fn. 770) In 1405 the vicar received nothing
from Baydon, the church of which he did not
serve: from the remainder of the parish he was
entitled to all hay tithe from Axford, all small
tithes and altarage, some commuted tithes of sheep
and lambs, tithes from all mills except the prebendary's, and, in place of tithe from the prebendal
glebe, a meadow of 1 a. and some grain tithes.
The rent from 8 a., apparently given to the
church in the late 14th century, was then being
witheld by a former vicar's executors. (fn. 771) In 1756
the vicar received two thirds of his income from
tithes, mostly paid in cash, the remainder from
fees and offerings. (fn. 772) At inclosure in 1778 he
was allotted 43 a. between Crowood Lane and
Whittonditch Road, 12 a. at Ramsbury, and 14 a.
near Marridge Hill to replace tithes from the
land then inclosed and from other premises belonging to the owners of that land. (fn. 773) In 1784 the
vicar gave tithes from land in Axford in exchange
for a site in Back Lane, on which six cottages had
been burned down, to enlarge his garden. (fn. 774) The
vicar's remaining tithes, mostly from Axford and
the Littlecote estate, were in 1841 valued at £125
and commuted for a rent charge. (fn. 775) The glebe,
which included a house in High Street, was being
leased for £225 in 1864, £110 in 1934. (fn. 776) The Back
Lane site was used for a church room in 1907 and
there were 999-year leases of small areas of glebe
for council houses in Whittonditch Road in the
1930s. (fn. 777) The land near Marridge Hill and the
house in High Street were sold after 1934: there
were 50 a. of glebe in 1981, mostly north of
Whittonditch Road. (fn. 778)

The vicarage house between the church and
Back Lane was repaired by the new vicar in 1681,
partly with the aid of £46 contributed by parishioners. (fn. 779) The house was refronted and partly
rebuilt c. 1786 when a schoolroom was attached
to it. (fn. 780) That house was replaced c. 1840 by a new
square house to which a third storey, possibly
raised from attics, was later added. (fn. 781) The new
house was sold c. 1967 when a new glebe house
was built in Back Lane. (fn. 782)

There was a chapel on the bishop of Salisbury's demesne at Membury in 1324 when the
bishop gave the chaplain appointed to serve it a
stipend of 50s. a year in addition to the endowment of a house and land, (fn. 783) valued at 20s. a year in
the late 16th century. (fn. 784) Bishops continued to
appoint chaplains until 1412 or later. (fn. 785) The
chapel may have been that called St. Anne's
which was said to be in ruins in 1504 when the
bishop granted an indulgence for it to be
rebuilt, (fn. 786) but there is no evidence that it was used
after 1412.

A chapel of St. Mary was mentioned in 1405
and was presumably served by the chaplain
mentioned then as appointed by the vicar and
in 1409. (fn. 787) A later reference to St. Mary's guild
suggests that it was an endowed chantry. (fn. 788) In
1459 William York was licensed to found a
chantry with a chaplain to say mass daily at the
altar of St. Mary in the parish church for the
souls of his father John, wife Agnes, and fatherin-law Nicholas Wootton. (fn. 789) The chaplain of
the Wootton and York chantry, who was also
required to hold no other benefice, to live in
the chantry house, and to teach grammar, was
serving there in 1469. (fn. 790) In 1476 John, son of
William York, gave an estate in Purton and
elsewhere, including several cottages in Ramsbury, to endow the chantry, and the right to
nominate the chaplain passed with Hilldrop
manor. (fn. 791) The foundation charter was formulated
in 1478. (fn. 792) In a way and for reasons that are not
clear the endowment, worth £7 12s. in 1535, (fn. 793)
was recovered by Thomas York from the chaplain in 1539: (fn. 794) in 1547 it was taken by the Crown
as land of a chantry dissolved without licence,
and was later sold. (fn. 795) Sir Edward Darell (d. 1530)
had devised money for daily masses in the
chapel, (fn. 796) the north chapel now called the Darell
chapel which contains monuments possibly to
the lords of Littlecote manor. (fn. 797) In 1455 the
bishop of Salisbury consecrated an altar dedicated to St. Catherine in the north part of the
church, possibly below the easternmost window
of the north aisle. (fn. 798)

Although on their visits to Ramsbury the
bishops of Salisbury worshipped in the chapel in
their palace, they sometimes held services in the
parish church. (fn. 799) The prebendaries of Ramsbury
and of Axford, like other prebendaries, were
frequently pluralists and sometimes men of distinction. (fn. 800) None seems to have had a close connexion with the parish. In 1399 the parish clerk
was appealing against excommunication for contumacy and he was still in office in 1405 when he
was accused of misappropriation and inefficiency. (fn. 801)
The vicar was accused in 1409 of condoning
immorality and of saying mass in the church when
he had been suspended by the dean. (fn. 802) His penance
was ordered in that year. (fn. 803) Later vicars included
from 1518 Richard Arch, vicar of Avebury and
principal of Broadgates Hall, Oxford. (fn. 804) John Wild
was vicar from 1599 to 1664. (fn. 805) He was noted for
his puritanism in the 1630s but his living had
been sequestrated by 1646. The intruder was
Samuel Brown. (fn. 806) Wild was restored in 1660. (fn. 807)
His curate then was a schoolteacher, Henry Dent,
whom John Wilson, vicar 1664–80, ejected and
prosecuted for nonconformist preaching. (fn. 808)
Richard Garrard was vicar from 1737 to 1784 and
his successors Edward Meyrick and Edward
Graves Meyrick were vicars from 1786 until
1839. (fn. 809) E. G. Meyrick, who was also rector of
Winchfield (Hants), preached once a month and
administered the Sacrament thrice yearly. (fn. 810) In
1851 there were congregations of 403 at the
morning and 275 at the afternoon services on
Census Sunday. (fn. 811) In 1864 the resident vicar
employed an assistant curate: three services were
held every Sunday, two with sermons; there were
services on Wednesdays and Fridays and at
festivals with congregations of 20–30; prayers
were said in the church morning and evening on
Mondays and Fridays; and the Sacrament was
administered at Christmas, Good Friday, Easter,
and Whitsun and monthly, respectively to some
110 and 60 communicants. (fn. 812)

The invocation of the church, called HOLY
CROSS in 1405 and almost certainly in 1323, (fn. 813)
may have caused or resulted from the choice of
the feasts of the Invention and Exaltation for the
fairs at Ramsbury granted by the king in 1240. (fn. 814)
The church, of flint rubble with ashlar dressings,
consists of a chancel, a north chapel, an aisled
and clerestoried nave with a south porch, and a
west tower. Apart from the cross shafts and tomb
slabs, (fn. 815) the oldest part of the present church is
the long 13th-century chancel. By the later 13th
century the nave had been aisled: the easternmost
bay of each aisle was distinct from the others and
each was possibly a transept extending further
north or south than the true aisle. The west end of
the church, including the two westernmost bays
of each arcade and the aisle walls, was largely
rebuilt in the 14th century, and the aisles were
then widened to incorporate what may have been
the transepts. The tower is also 14th-century.
The chapel was built in the early 15th century,
and in that century new windows were inserted in
the chancel and at the east end of the south aisle.
In the early 16th century the clerestory and a new
nave roof of lower pitch were made. (fn. 816) A west
gallery was built in 1698–9 and aisle galleries
in 1788 when the roofs of both aisles were
remade. (fn. 817) In an extensive restoration of 1890–3
the walls of the aisles were largely rebuilt and
were given stepped buttresses and embattled
parapets, a new lower pitched roof on the south
aisle was made, the plain south porch was replaced by an elaborate porch in a late medieval
style, a porch was added to the chancel, and the
galleries were removed. (fn. 818) The bowl of the font, of
stone carved in the shape of a pineapple, was
possibly an ornament on a gateway of Ramsbury
Manor replaced c. 1775. The base was carved by
Thomas Meyrick c. 1842. (fn. 819)

In 1405 the church plate included a silver and
gilt chalice, bearing a design illustrating the
crucifixion, and two other silver and gilt chalices
with patens, one of which had possibly been misappropriated. (fn. 820) The king took 3 oz. of silver in
1553 and left a chalice of 11 oz. That chalice had
presumably been lost by 1719 when a flagon
hallmarked 1707, a paten made in 1718, and a
chalice with paten also made in 1718 were given.
A copy of the chalice of 1718 was given in 1839
and a spoon of 1666 or earlier was given in 1881. (fn. 821)
The church retained all that plate in 1981. (fn. 822)
There were four bells in 1553. They were replaced by a ring of six cast by Abraham Rudhall
of Gloucester in 1708. The tenor was recast by
Warner & Sons of London in 1865. (fn. 823) Those bells
hung in the church in 1981. (fn. 824) The registers are
complete from 1678. (fn. 825)

Nonconformity.

Roger Bodenham (fl.
1689), lord of Hilldrop manor, whose lands had
been sequestrated by 1646 for his papism, lived at
Ramsbury as a papist for over 40 years. (fn. 826) Francis
Bodenham and in the 1670s members of the
Gilmore family of Ramsbury, including Paul
Gilmore (d. 1748), a Benedictine monk, were also
papists, (fn. 827) but their cause did not flourish in
Ramsbury.

Henry Dent, ejected from Hannington vicarage
and later from the assistant curacy of Ramsbury, (fn. 828) led dissent around Ramsbury. He kept a
school in Ramsbury and preached there and at
Lambourn and Newbury. (fn. 829) In 1669 the presbyterian conventicle at Ramsbury was attended
by 50–60, and Christopher Fowler and John
Clark, ejected from the vicarages of respectively
Reading and Hungerford, were among the
preachers. (fn. 830) Dent's was among several houses in
Ramsbury licensed for presbyterian meetings in
1672. (fn. 831) The congregation apparently survived
and in 1715 built a chapel on the north side of
Oxford Street, possibly the 'presbyterian barn'
referred to in 1716. By 1766 it had been demolished. (fn. 832) Congregationalism was revived at
Ramsbury in the 1820s, and in 1830 a chapel and
a private house were licensed for meetings.
They were apparently replaced by the Ebenezer
chapel built in High Street in 1839. (fn. 833) The
minister's house was east of it and a schoolroom
south of it. (fn. 834) There were congregations of 77 at
the morning and 130 at the evening services on
Census Sunday in 1851. (fn. 835) By will proved 1890
Walter Samuel Chamberlain gave £100 for the
chapel, the income from which was used for
general expenses. (fn. 836) Services were still held in the
chapel in 1981.

Three chapels built mainly of flint with brick
dressings survive in Ramsbury. Services at a
Wesleyan Methodist chapel, said to have been
built in 1805 and rebuilt and enlarged in 1833,
were attended by congregations of 130, 70, and
169 on Census Sunday in 1851. (fn. 837) The chapel is
that behind buildings on the south side of High
Street: it has not been used for services since
1944. (fn. 838) Another Wesleyan Methodist chapel was
at Marridge Hill in 1851 when attendance at it
averaged 20, (fn. 839) but it has not survived. There
were Primitive Methodists in Ramsbury from
the 1830s and a chapel had been built by 1839.
Where it stood is uncertain but it was possibly the
flint and brick chapel, on the east side of Chapel
Lane, later used as a Sunday school. (fn. 840) The
Primitive Methodist chapel was attended by
congregations of 70, 160, and 200 on Census
Sunday in 1851. (fn. 841) A new chapel was built in
Oxford Street possibly in 1876. (fn. 842) Sunday
services in it were held weekly in 1981. Near
Witcha Farm the smallest of the three flint and
brick chapels was built for Primitive Methodists
in 1859. (fn. 843) It had apparently been closed long
before 1981. (fn. 844)

In the early 19th century several houses in
Ramsbury were registered for worship by dissenters. (fn. 845) One may have been that used by the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in
which 30 attended the service held on Census
Sunday in 1851. (fn. 846) A hall was built on the north
side of High Street for the Salvation Army in
1881. (fn. 847)

Education.

In the period 1459 to 1539 chaplains of the Wootton and York chantry were
charged with teaching grammar to poor scholars
coming to Ramsbury from elsewhere: how conscientiously they did so is unknown. (fn. 848) In the
1660s and possibly for longer the nonconformist
Henry Dent kept a school at his house in Ramsbury, and in 1780 there was a schoolroom on the
south side of High Street: nothing further is
known of either school. (fn. 849) When he became vicar
in 1786 Edward Meyrick moved his school from
Hungerford to Ramsbury. The school was held
in buildings adjoining the vicarage house and
in Bodorgan House, now Ramsbury Hill, and
the house now called Parliament Piece. After
Meyrick resigned the vicarage in 1811 the school
was kept by his son Arthur. It was a boarding
school for the sons of the middle classes: there
were 60–70 pupils c. 1840. It was closed in
the 1840s. (fn. 850) A boarding school for girls was
mentioned in the 1790s. (fn. 851)

A charity school mentioned in the 1790s may
have been the predecessor of the school for 35–40
girls being supported by a Miss, possibly Mary
Ann, Read of Crowood House in 1818, when
there were said to be many small schools in the
area. (fn. 852) In 1833 there were five day schools paid for
by the parents of the 105 children attending them:
one was possibly for Independents, for whom a
schoolroom was built behind the Ebenezer
chapel in 1839; two had been started after 1830. (fn. 853)
In 1857 one was replaced by a school for girls
built on the south side of Back Lane and endowed
by Louisa Read of Crowood House. The school
and schoolhouse are of flint and banded brick in a
plain Gothic style. That school had 55–65 pupils
in 1859: then the other four were a boys' school
for 100–110, a school for 15–20, and two dame
schools for a total of 40 children of dissenters. (fn. 854)
In 1872 the parish formed a school board. (fn. 855) A
school was built at Axford in 1874, and in 1875 a
new boys' and infants' school on the north side of
Back Lane replaced all the schools in Ramsbury
except the girls' school. (fn. 856) In 1906–7 the two
Ramsbury schools were attended by 84 girls,
76 boys, and 73 infants. The number of pupils
at the former board school in Back Lane had
declined to 97 by 1922: they were joined by
those from the girls' school which, although it
still had more than 70 pupils, was closed in 1925.
Attendance at Ramsbury school reached 190
in 1936 after Axford school was closed, but
later fell. (fn. 857) The school has remained a primary
school and in 1981 there were 115 children
on roll. (fn. 858)

By will Louisa Read (d. 1879) endowed Ramsbury girls' school with £60 a year and gave
money for eleemosynary purposes and for bibles
and other books for both the boys' and girls'
schools. From 1904, when £30 was paid, the
school's income was reduced. (fn. 859) The giving of
bibles and prayer books to children leaving
school afterwards lapsed. It was revived by Sir
Felix Pole in memory of his father Edward
Robert Pole, a headmaster of the boys' school, in
a trust set up in 1939 and endowed with £200. In
1960 Lady (Ethel Maud) Pole, Sir Felix's relict,
gave a further £600 in memory of Sir Felix. (fn. 860)
Bibles were given in 1981. (fn. 861) By deed of 1921 A. E.
Oakes gave £1,000 in trust to provide yearly
pleasure trips for schoolgirls. There were 40
trippers in 1936: trips are still made. (fn. 862)

Charities for the Poor.

By will proved
1878 Mary Jane Lanfear gave £600 to apprentice
boys living in Ramsbury and East Kennett, two
from Ramsbury to one from East Kennett, but in
the period 1895–1904 six from Ramsbury were
the only boys apprenticed. In 1905 the charity
had £666 capital and £23 income. (fn. 863) A separate
trust for Ramsbury with two thirds of the endowment was set up in 1924. Capital continued to
accumulate as income was not spent and by a
Scheme of 1936 the object was extended to
general help to boys learning a trade. In 1970,
when the charity had £1,600 capital and £69
income, it was renamed Lanfear Educational
Trust. Benefit was extended to men and women
under 25 and the use of the income to general
educational purposes: £163 was spent in 1975. (fn. 864)

By will proved 1887 John Osmond gave £200
to be invested for the poor. Coal was bought with
the income, £4 8s. in 1904, and distributed. (fn. 865)
Louisa Read (d. 1879) by will gave £3,000 for
education and to perpetuate gifts of clothes and
blankets to the poor. The residue of income after
fixed payments to Ramsbury girls' school or £30
was to be spent on gifts. It was not clear whether
£30 was intended to be a maximum or minimum.
In 1904, when £20 was spent on clothing, the
Charity Commissioners divided the charity. (fn. 866)
From 1936 Lanfear's and Osmond's charities
and Read's eleemosynary charity have been dealt
with together under a Scheme. The income from
Osmond's and Read's, £20 in 1960, has been
used for the general benefit of the poor. In 1965
vouchers worth £21 were given at Christmas. (fn. 867)

By a deed of 1951 and a Scheme of 1953 S. G.
and Lilian Chamberlain gave £1,390 stock to
perpetuate their practice of giving vouchers to
the poor, old, and widowed at Christmas. S. G.
Chamberlain gave additional stock of £2,700 and
£5,000 in 1954 and 1956 for organized activities
and for the old and poor of the parish. In 1975 the
three funds had a total income of £924. (fn. 868)